Simon Miller artistic director Chelsea Hansford follows the fashion college of thought that animal prints aren’t an announcement however a impartial. So within the model’s resort assortment, cheetah and zebra designs are her model of a little bit black gown: “They run wild on this assortment,” Hansford stated from Los Angeles. Certainly, all the pieces from fits, clothes, coats, to sneakers are available animalistic type . . . a transparent seen thread operating all through all of it.
But regardless of the dominant presence, wild beasts weren’t the essential inspiration for this assortment, which Hansford calls “Gala.” The identify is a double entendre. Not solely are loads of the items formal put on that you might put on to a black tie occasion, however “Gala” was additionally the identify of Salvador Dali’s spouse. Surrealist imagery, stated Hansford, was a significant pinpoint on her moodboard.
It’s seen most clearly in a lip-shaped bag and a lip-print gown, a nod to the Mae West Lips couch made by Dali in 1937. Hansford additionally stated she took metallic colour cues from Dali’s melting clocks. A black night robe is accented with a gold bow and matching gloves. One other gown is available in shimmering silver sequins with an identical coat. (The latter is a favourite colour of the Simon Miller buyer: “In equipment we promote silver most likely higher than we promote black,” she stated.) They’re designs not for the wallflower, however the highlight seeker—Hansford pointed to the clothes on the well-known Rothschild surrealist ball, which embraced “lavishness and drama.”
It’s not all night put on: there’s some items that may fare higher in day fairly than at evening, like striped linen clothes and button downs. But as Hansford defined, fundamental staples weren’t the purpose. “We aren’t a quiet luxurious model—we’re, as I say, a playful luxurious model.”
