Tulum. You have risen to the top of the fashion broth with more gusto than a Mexican sunset. You are at once spiritual, raucous and serene. You have gathered the world’s foremost fashion designers, models, photographers, actors and professional party attendees to your bosom and you’ve done all of this in less than a year. 

You’ve got to hand it to Tulum. It’s got a roster of guests that Eden Roc would be envious of. Jared Leto (has this man ever aged?) just celebrated his Boxing Day birthday and New Year there, where, elsewhere in the ocean-front town, London jeweller Dominic Jones, The Misshapes, DJ Chelsea Leyland revelled on the shore. And that’s just this year. Pretty much everyone on the planet holidayed there at some point last year. Demi Moore practically moved in. At least that’s how it seems from my Instagram feed, under all those droplets of cold, steely London rain. 

While Barbados in December is for the see-and-be-seen crowd, Tulum is more of a fashion capital: Mario Testino lives on the waterfront, male model Nicolas Malleville owns the boutique resort, Coqui Coqui, and the likes of Nicola Formichetti, creative director for Mugler and Linda Fargo, from Bergdorf Goodman, among many others, headed there after Christmas, all contributing to Tulum’s very apt moniker, the ‘fashion jungle’. 

Just what is it about Tulum that keeps the fashion pack’s appetite for a holiday sated? Well, for one, it’s got a spiritual, yogi-type skew and so has become a natural draw for anyone on a quest for self-enlightenment and in 2013 became a yoga capital. Where better to do a sun salutation that on a coast facing the sunrise? It’s an all-budget option with the yoga retreats ranging from the 5-star to the more rustic (check out La Crisalida, Amansala, Yoga Shala Tulum).

Enlightenment can come via a downward dog, but the Temazcal, a type of ancient sauna, is a favoured route to spiritual awakening. The sweat lodge looks no dissimilar to an igloo and was used in ancient Mesoamerica as a curative therapy after exertion or childbirth and to not try it out on a visit to Tulum would just be churlish. If it’s city-slicker purification you’re after, this is the answer.  

The Mexican town has become a favourite with eco-travellers with many hotels using solar generators and wind turbines to keep the lights on, while other opt for a complete black-out at certain times of the day.

And have we mentioned how awe-inspiring beautiful it is? The Mayan city is one of the best preserved ancient cities, despite hurricane Roxanne’s attempts to thrash it to bits back in 1995. After exploring the ruins – where peculiarly, there is evidence of an early form of basketball – it’s common for tourists to head down to the beach, strip off and run headlong into the Caribbean. But remember to pack your finest Pucci kaftan.