Benvenuti!
This collection is a celebration of Le Sirenuse - a place full of history, otherworldly charm, and beauty that cannot be overstated (… believe us, we tried).
Our partnership with Le Sirenuse is our longest-standing, now in its fourth collection. Over time, it has grown into something beyond a partnership — a lasting friendship with the family who have so thoughtfully fostered the hotel across generations.
Tombolo, founded by two New York City subway rats, was shocked and honored to be invited inside. Having rarely left sea-level, what a thrill for us to ascend the cliffs and behold the great, blue expanse of the Mediterranean framed by bougainvillea and lemon trees. Ah the vistas … we’re not worthy!
Our goal has always been to infuse our ‘escapewear’ with the magic of a place like Le Sirenuse. With this ongoing creative collaboration, we were given the opportunity to drink straight from the source. You might say we got drunk off of it. Admittedly, the white wine and limoncello didn’t hurt either…
Over the years, we’ve fallen deeply in love with the hotel and with Positano itself, having had the privilege of working closely with the Sersale family—stewards of Le Sirenuse for generations—who have graciously guided us through the unique history, colors, textures, tastes, and vistas of this dreamlike place.
Le Sirenuse was founded in 1951 by the four Sersale siblings—Anna, Aldo, Paolo and Franco—when they opened the doors of their private villa in Positano to the world. The Sersales are adoptive positanesi, having originally come from nearby Naples, and over time their story became intertwined with that of the town itself. In 1944, Paolo Sersale was even elected mayor of Positano.
Now, in our fourth collection with Le Sirenuse, we find ourselves celebrating an important milestone: the hotel’s 75th anniversary.
We created a series of commemorative pieces worthy of the moment—two terrycloth souvenir tees in a rich, sunbaked red, a nod to the hotel’s iconic Pompeiian red facade.
Alongside them is a limited edition Hawaiian shirt featuring a hand-painted print that pays tribute to the four founding Sersale siblings and depicts the hotel's very first summer in 1951.
We returned to Positano to see for ourselves how Le Sirenuse was celebrating its 75th. We spent the day on the water, tracing the Amalfi coastline by boat, eventually making our way to the hotel’s new beach club in neighboring Nerano: Le Sirenuse Mare... 75 years old and still day-drinking on the beach!
After a dip in the crystal-clear water and a heroic amount of pasta and wine beneath its vine-draped canopy later, we couldn’t help but question how this possibly qualified as a workday.
The collection also expands our partnership with Le Sirenuse to include styles designed specifically for women, including a hand-towel top and skirt set, a beach-towel top, and the aforementioned 75th Anniversary cropped tee.
Over the years, our collaboration with Le Sirenuse has grown far beyond the hotel itself, drawing us into the vibrant world of people, places, and traditions that give Positano its unmistakable charm.
In our third collection, we commissioned an artwork from local ceramicist Lucio Liguori. With his help, we turned our eyes to the town as a whole and created a shirt that captures the interlaced, precarious beauty of towering Positano. Learn more about Liguori and the process of bringing our first silk shirt to life in our dedicated journal post linked below.
As part of our second collection, we co-designed a shirt with Campanian painter, sculptor, and poet, Paolo Sandulli, who embodies the spirit of the Amalfi Coast with his whimsical, dream-like works. Read more about this project and Sandulli by clicking below.
Along the way, the Sersales introduced us to still other friends for more creative opportunities. The Bella family who own and operate the iconic Da Adolfo restaurant in Positano trace their roots and connection with the Sersales back to the 1960s. After a warm introduction between friends of friends and handshake deal, we made a limited-edition cabana to capture Da Adolfo's enigmatic charm. The shirt's long since sold out, but you can read more about what it's like to visit the restaurant and the inspiration behind our design below.
It is impossible to create a souvenir that does Le Sirenuse justice, but this evolving collection represents our best attempt to channel the place’s charms into something that can be taken home. The collection is full of colors from the hotel and town, nostalgic details, and – of course – features the mythical sirens said to inhabit the islands you see from the hotel’s grand balcony.
John Steinbeck, who visited the hotel in 1953, described it best: “Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”
Explore the entire collaborative capsule with Le Sirenuse below.
