The Warmth of the Sun.(Brief Article)

"It has those little Emilios on it--that means it's one of our original patterns from the archives," says the saleswoman at the EMILIO PUCCI boutique (24 E. 64th St.; 752-4777), vouching for the authenticity of a saffron-and-heliotrope beach towel spread out on the shop's floor. The towel, a riot of swirls and crazy curlicues, has tiny Emilio signatures, as subtle as Hirschfeld Ninas, hidden in its print. It may be $250, but it's about as dazzling a towel as you'll ever see, and, according to the sales help, it's a hundred per cent washable, which is always nice when you're dealing with an item whose sole purpose is to be spread out on sand. "We've been in this location over thirty years," the clerk says of the plush, old-fashioned Pucci store, the sort of place where the deep-pink carpeting exactly matches the pink front door. "Our customers love it this way."

The sleek HERMES flagship (691 Madison Ave.; 751-3181) may not feature a pink staircase, but it does offer, along with those famous $4,000 Kelly bags, what appears to be a faux-shagreen-lined elevator. If the status beach towels here are even pricier than the ones at Pucci, the subject matter is more various: among a wide range of animal-themed offerings is an example printed with a school of cheery goldfish on a yellow or green background that is $360 for a standard size and a whopping $660 for the double-wide version.

People who would rather leap around after a little ball than lie on a designer towel might like the paddleball set at CRATE & BARREL (650 Madison Ave.; 308-0011), a mesh bag that contains a pair of paddles and two balls for ...