Ulla Johnson’s designs define a kind of universal, endless summer: floaty frocks that conjure sun-drenched days by the pool in Patmos, feet-in-the-sand lunches in Tulum, or breezy dinners on the docks in her beloved Montauk. That’s not incidental, given that the Manhattan-raised, Brooklyn-dwelling designer ascribes one of her biggest influences to childhood summers on the Adriatic coast (her mother is Serbian). In the 20 years since founding her eponymous fashion label, she has traveled to dozens of countries, from Mexico to Morocco, incorporating local prints and textile tradition and supporting local artisan collectives. Even when creating her most aspirational pieces, Johnson says, ease and the ability to cram a lot of clothing into a suitcase still influence her designs: “I detest an iron.”
Having postponed her travels to places like Japan and Peru over the last few months—“I have a bit of PTSD from planning so many trips and cancelling them”—Johnson, her husband (who runs a contemporary art foundation) and their three kids used the time to explore the American backyard: Jackson Hole for holiday skiing and a road trip across Arizona and Utah for springtime canyon-hiking. For summer, she plans to be back in her seaside element, first in Portugal then Spain—with (fingers crossed) no cancellations.
Alex Postman: What are your summer plans, and how do they differ from what you might usually do?
Ulla Johnson: Last summer, we didn't go anywhere, obviously. And that was very different, but nice in a way, because we were in Montauk the whole time. This year we’re planning to go to Spain in August. I always go to some place that feels Adriatic for the summer. I grew up spending summers in Dubrovnik, so it doesn't feel like summer to me unless I get to that part of the world. We’ll probably go to Madrid first. It’s really hot in August, but I love it, and my husband hasn’t been. He's in the art world, so it's going to be a robust Guernica viewing, and every other Velasquez in town. Then we're going to go to Mallorca, which I haven't been to since I was seven and I absolutely loved Palma de Mallorca—we're going to be outside Deia. And then we'll go to Barcelona for a few days.
Is there a summer holiday from any time of your life that you're most nostalgic for?
I would say Dubrovnik from my childhood. We would go for the whole season. My parents would rent a room in someone's apartment—people used to do that. Dubrovnik was so low-key, never crowded. It’s one of the most picturesque towns you'll ever visit, a UNESCO Heritage site. (Though it was also part of the staging for Game of Thrones, and when I went back with my family four years ago it was heartrending to see all the GOT tourism, with people in huge pirate ships blaring the soundtrack.) Anyway, we used to walk to the piazza in the mornings to get cheese and bread, and then visit an island called Lokrum, where we would spend the day just napping in the shade of the pine trees. The grownups would all sit together and chain smoke, and the children would run around. It was very unsupervised. Just a very different time. I’m nostalgic for that time and even that way of traveling, and just going to places that don’t feel overrun.
What summer hotel or rental have you’ve loved most?
My favorite was this incredible villa that we rented in Sicily outside of Noto, which had been built around a 300-year-old olive tree. The builder was actually a Roman jewelry designer who had an incredible aesthetic and worked only with local craftsmen—everything in the house was locally made ceramics and other materials. It was such a thing of beauty and so peaceful, with many outdoor showers that were in these little nooks built into the landscape. The town of Noto itself was also so beautiful and picturesque, and the best restaurant in town had a female chef with an entirely female staff, like a little feminist pocket there. Plus we found the most incredible gelateria.
