For a second final yr, the web was overrun by a development dubbed “Tomato Lady Summer season.” Cosplaying an Italian trip warranted a whole model of gown stuffed with cotton poplin, tomato purple, gingham, and raffia. Chelsea Hansford, the inventive director and CEO of Simon Miller, adopted comparable inspiration for her spring 2024 assortment, which she referred to as “In The Kitchen.” (When requested in regards to the Tomato Lady development, Hansford stated, “Is that developing? I haven’t heard of that.”) The marketing campaign, starring Angela Lindvall, was deeply narrative-driven. “I imagined this Tuscan property, the place she reaped her land to prepare dinner this extravagant meal,” Hansford stated. Even when haunted by the ghosts of microtrends previous, the Simon Miller ethos nonetheless fitted proper right into a carefree Italian summer time, from the gingham tunic over matching pants to the fringed-hemmed knit gown in vibrant colours and neutrals alike.

Hansford is working on a see now, purchase now schedule, making her conscious about her funky coastal buyer’s upcoming actions—although it does deviate a bit from the unique temporary. “Now we have an enormous pageant season enterprise, particularly right here in LA,” she stated. “We do a drop completely for that.” It’s a clever enterprise transfer: Whereas the standard Simon Miller buyer is an elder millennial, pageant season opens the model as much as a youthful demographic. Therefore the mesh shibori T-shirts that may belong extra on the Coachella fairgrounds than in a Tuscan kitchen.

Simon Miller is at its greatest when it stays near its DNA, even when constructing off current items from previous seasons. The cotton poplin shirtdress with the open-back panel and waist-cinching tie added selection to a basic closet staple, as did the crocheted minidress, which well performed off the model’s greatest promoting “Beep Beep” gown. Hansford clearly has a really robust sense of brand name identification, even when she chooses to divert from her inventive imaginative and prescient to serve it.