The Amalfi Coast and Capri summer silk capsule: Positano cliffside suites to the Faraglioni

The Amalfi Coast is vertical. Everything that matters in Positano is reached by steps: the beach at Spiaggia Grande, the boats at the jetty, the terraces of Le Sirenuse on Via Cristoforo Colombo, the little alleys of boutiques that climb back up towards the main road. Capri, across the water, is the same story with a funicular. A wardrobe for this coast therefore has two jobs. It has to be light enough to survive the heat and the climb, and it has to look right the moment you sit down.

The Le Privé styling desk spends part of every June and September on this stretch of the Tyrrhenian, shooting for the Journal and for the creators in our network. The capsule below is the one we return to: silk, linen, one serious bag and a pair of sandals that have been up and down the steps of Positano more times than we can count.

Positano: the cliffside morning

Positano wakes slowly. The sun reaches the beach late because the town faces south-east under its own cliff, so mornings belong to the terraces. Le Sirenuse, with its terracotta rooms and the pool that looks straight at the church dome, is the hotel the fashion world defaults to, and Il San Pietro di Positano, carved into the rock a little further along the coast road, is the quieter alternative with its own lift to the sea.

The morning piece is a silk slip or a short, structured dress. Jacquemus' La Robe Saudade, cut close with a gathered waist, is exactly the shape that works here: short enough for the steps, finished enough for a late breakfast on the terrace. Wear it with a flat leather sandal and a straw hat with a real brim; the fashion-week version with the tiny crown will not survive a Positano midday. Sunglasses are tortoiseshell or black, never mirrored.

The boat day and what goes in the bag

Every good day on this coast involves a boat. From the jetty at Positano the classic run is west to Nerano for lunch at one of the beach restaurants in Marina del Cantone, or a shorter hop to Laurito where Da Adolfo serves grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves to anyone who arrives by sea. Going the other way, the water taxi to Capri takes under an hour and drops you at Marina Grande, where the funicular climbs to the Piazzetta.

The bag has to handle all of it: salt, sun cream, a wet swimsuit wrapped in a towel, a phone, cash for the beach club. Bottega Veneta's Andiamo in woven intrecciato leather is the desk's choice because it is soft enough to sit on the deck of a boat and polished enough to walk straight into a restaurant from the jetty. Choose a colour that hides a little sand: tan, dark green or black rather than white.

On the boat the dress comes off and a linen shirt goes on. Loro Piana's linen is the benchmark for this coast; it is cut generously, dries fast and looks better after a day of creasing than it did in the morning. Wear it open over a black swimsuit with the sleeves rolled, and nothing else is needed until the sun goes.

Capri: Via Camerelle to the Faraglioni

Capri is a different register. The Piazzetta is where the island performs itself from late afternoon, and the walk from there along Via Camerelle, past the boutiques and the Grand Hotel Quisisana, towards the Gardens of Augustus is the island's catwalk. Keep going along Via Tragara and the road ends at a viewpoint above the Faraglioni, the three rock stacks that appear on every postcard. Below them, the beach clubs at La Fontelina and Da Luigi ai Faraglioni are reached by a steep path or, more sensibly, by boat from Marina Piccola.

For Capri the desk packs the one truly dressed piece of the week: a long silk dress in a single colour, worn with the same flat sandal and the same bag. The point of a capsule is that nothing new is needed at the destination. J.K. Place Capri at Marina Grande and Hotel Punta Tragara on the Tragara side are the addresses we use; both have terraces where the long dress earns its place at sunset.

On this coast the wardrobe has to climb the steps, survive the boat and still sit down to dinner.

Ravello and the evening table

If the itinerary allows a night away from the sea, Ravello sits high above Amalfi with the gardens of Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo and a summer music festival on the terraces. Belmond Hotel Caruso is the reason most people make the drive; its infinity pool and the walk through the town's lanes are worth the hairpins. Here the linen shirt returns, buttoned this time, with a silk trouser and the small jewellery that has stayed on all week.

Back down on the water, dinner in Positano is a short list. Chez Black on the beach for the atmosphere, La Sponda at Le Sirenuse for candlelight, or a boat back to Nerano for the simplest fish on the coast. None of them needs more than the long dress or the shirt and trouser, which is the whole argument for packing light.

The capsule in full

For seven days: one short structured dress, one long silk dress, two silk slips, two linen shirts in white and sand, one silk trouser, one linen short, two black swimsuits, one flat leather sandal, one espadrille, one woven leather bag, one straw hat with a brim, two pairs of sunglasses. Colours stay within white, sand, black, olive and one accent. Jewellery is a fine chain, a pair of small hoops and a watch that can get wet.

All three callout pieces are available through Farfetch's partner boutiques, which is how the Le Privé styling desk sources what we shoot. Members of the Le Privé network see purchases made through these links in their member account. The Journal's other resort edits, including Mykonos and Ibiza and the Côte d'Azur, live at leprive.net, and the desk's daily sightings from the coast are on @leprive.network.

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