For a moment last year, the internet was overrun by a trend dubbed “tomato girl summer.” Cosplaying an Italian vacation warranted an entire style of dress filled with cotton poplin, tomato red, gingham, and raffia. Chelsea Hansford, the creative director and CEO of Simon Miller, followed similar inspiration for her spring 2024 collection, which she called In the Kitchen. (When asked about the tomato girl trend, Hansford said, “Is that coming up? I haven’t heard of that.”) The campaign, starring Angela Lindvall, was deeply narrative driven. “I imagined this Tuscan estate, where she reaped her land to cook this extravagant meal,” Hansford said. Even if haunted by the ghosts of microtrends past, the Simon Miller ethos still fit right into a carefree Italian summer, from the gingham tunic over matching pants to the fringed-hemmed knit dress in bright colors and neutrals alike.
Hansford is operating on a see-now-buy-now schedule, making her acutely aware of her funky coastal customers’ upcoming activities—though it does deviate a bit from the original brief. “We have a big festival season business, especially here in L.A.,” she said. “We do a drop exclusively for that.” It’s a wise business move: While the typical Simon Miller customer is an elder millennial, festival season opens the brand up to a younger demographic. Hence the mesh shibori T-shirts that would belong more on the Coachella fairgrounds than in a Tuscan kitchen.
Simon Miller is at its best when it stays close to its DNA, even when building off existing pieces from past seasons. The cotton poplin shirtdress with the open-back panel and waist-cinching tie added variety to a classic closet staple, as did the crocheted minidress, which smartly played off the label’s best-selling Beep Beep dress. Hansford clearly has a very strong sense of brand identity, even when she chooses to divert from her creative vision to serve it.