Elevated ease: resort-wear label SMR Days outfits The Standard’s new Ibiza hotel

‘A happy accident’ is how Dan May, creative director of London-based menswear label SMR Days, describes a new collaboration with The Standard hotel group, which this past weekend opened its latest outpost – The Standard Ibiza hotel – in the island’s historic Old Town. In a special collaborative collection – which will also be available to purchase – SMR Days has created a uniform for staff across the portside location, the buzzy hotel group’s second opening in Europe, following London in 2019.

Known for effortless men’s resort wear with a focus on sustainable craft – inspired by, and made for, global travels – SMR Days’ clothing first caught the eye of Elli Jafari, managing director of The Standard Europe, at an event in the London hotel last year. ‘She thought SMR Days would be a perfect fit for the hotel’s uniforms in Ibiza,’ says May. ‘Our worlds just seemed to collide.’ An introduction with Verena Haller, The Standard’s chief design officer, followed: ‘SMR Days focuses on summer, on timeless summer clothing,’ she tells Wallpaper*. ‘So what better brand for us to partner with in Ibiza?’

SMR Days creates uniforms for The Standard Ibiza hotel

Indeed, as guests arrived at the new hotel for a star-filled opening weekend – culminating in a late-night Saturday soiree that took them from rooftop to dancefloor, soundtracked with a live performance by former Moloko frontwoman Róisín Murphy – the collection looked more than at home amid the hotel’s mellow Balearic design (white sun-bleached walls, elements of craft, verdant plant life and prints). ‘Uncomplicated sophistication’ is how the group describes the feel of the former cinema’s 53 rooms and communal spaces, a term that could equally be applied to SMR Days’ own aesthetic signature. 

Founded in 2020 by May alongside fashion industry veterans Adam Shapiro and Gautam Rajani, the young label propositions a feeling of elevated ease with its collections: breezy holiday-inspired separates utilising sustainably sourced natural fabrics and the centuries-old Indian craft that SMR Days is dedicated to keeping alive (India is the home country of Rajani and a central design inspiration, the brand working closely with fairly paid local artisans). ‘We wanted to offer something in its totality: you can travel in it, you can wear it before you leave and when you get there,’ May previously told Wallpaper*. 

For this collaboration – which will be worn by staff across the Ibiza location, from front desk to rooftop bar Up and ground-floor eatery Jara – an infusion of ease felt more important than ever for both comfort on the job and a nod towards the island’s laid-back sensibilities and bohemian roots. As such, the collection itself comprises simple linen shirting and relaxed trousers in warm hues inspired by Ibiza’s natural landscapes, colourful block-printed sets and soft striped kaftans, the latter marking SMR Days’ first foray into womenswear. 

‘I think one of the reasons the collaboration came about was because our brand DNA is about comfort and ease and that’s what you look for in a uniform – so we didn’t have to change too many shapes,’ says May. ‘We wanted pieces which feel true to both brands, but also with the spirit of Ibiza very much in our minds.’

The brand’s three founders note that they have been visiting Ibiza since their twenties; in their own collection, a tunic-style shirt is called ‘Jondal’ after Cala Jondal, a serene beach surrounded by pine forest in the island’s south (each SMR Days item is named after a beach with particular resonance to Shapiro, May and Rajani – from Wittering beach in the UK to those visited in far-flung regions of the world). The trio say that with this collection, they want to capture Ibiza’s unique spirit of escape, which has kept them returning year after year.

‘It’s a happy place, I feel so positive when I am on the island,’ says May. ‘There is just an energy, a shared sense of joy.’

INFORMATION

smrdays.com
standardhotels.com