36 hours on Formentera with style queen Zoë Jordan
The Mallorca-based fashion designer spends sun-soaked summers on Formentera.
Ireland-born, London-raised and Mallorca-based, Zoë Jordan has created a laidback Balearic lifestyle for herself and her family, the financier Steve Aspinall and daughters Eden, Dylan and Inez. Zoë is known for her easy going, youthful take on womenswear, with cult cashmere pieces that inspire a fervent following. Her most recent collection, Eivissa, uses abstract patterns to evoke the jagged coastline of Ibiza. The designer lives in a contemporary, art-filled home in Palma, but it's to the dreamlike shores of Formentera that she escapes in high summer. Zoë shares her tips for 36 stylish hours on the Balearics’ most low-key island.
We like to arrive early, having taken the ferry from Mallorca to Ibiza. We always bring our bikes, but we often hire a Citröen Mehari too. We head straight to Es Calo, for breakfast and coffee at Can Rafalet. I love to slip off the rocks for a post-coffee dip – the water is always teeming with fish. After breakfast we head down the island to Playa Migjorn, where we find a spot on the sand to while away the morning while the girls swim.
When lunch beckons, we head to 10.7, an Italian-owned restaurant that has an upbeat atmosphere and sushi to die for. The water here is incredible too. After a late lunch we might check into our hotel. My newest island find (it only opened last year) is Casa Pacha, a design-led beach hotel with vast, airy rooms and a deeply rustic yet chic interior style. My favourite room – named Pachacha, after the Latin-themed room at the Pacha nightclub – has a terrace overlooking the sea. There’s a palm-roofed restaurant in the sand and a cute boutique to stock up on bikinis and pretty gold earrings.
After a shower – the bathrooms are insane – we head into the little town of Sant Francesc. The girls might grab an artisan gelato at LadaCrem while we stroll around the evening market. I know a great stall for handmade sandals and a guy that makes beautiful Mexican hats. When the sun has set, we might head to supper at Can Carlos, a dreamy garden restaurant that’s one of our favourite places on the planet. I always order the crudités and bagna càuda, which is a warm Italian dip made of anchovies, garlic and olive oil. Can Carlos is always packed, so after a late night and a long sleep, we’ll head to Blat Picat in Sant Ferran for a lazy vegan breakfast and fresh juice beneath the yellow-and-white striped awning.
Just down the road is Catalina House, a fabulous interiors store where I might pick up a great basket or some table linens. Then we’ll drop the girls at Rutas es Boixets for horse riding camp while Steve and I head to Hotel Cala Saona for an early padel match with Dani. I play padel competitively for my club in Mallorca, so I like to find a game wherever I go. After padel, we’ll grab the girls and head to the beach again, maybe stopping for lunch at Es Codol Foradat. At the end of each trip, we always head out to the lighthouse at Cap de Barbaría to watch the sunset. It’s the closest point of the Balearics to Africa, and sometimes it can feel like you’re standing on the edge of the world.
