The Simon Miller girl is growing up. While Chelsea Hansford has always envisioned her customer as a working creative, she has spent the last several years tailoring the brand’s look to mid-career professionals. “We’ve been honing in on our audience that’s a little older—thirties, forties,” she said. “She’s an interior designer, she’s an artist, she’s a gallerist, she’s a businesswoman, the founder of VC.”
Hansford is catering to her audience of free-spirited venture capitalists and gallerinas with an expansion of suiting and poplin pieces. Perhaps the biggest boon for business: this season, for the first time, Simon Miller is offering a sleeveless version of its staple Lock top, a poplin button-up with an open back flap and an adjustable waist-cinching tie. But there is also an abstract floral suit and a knit mini shift dress worn over matching pants, both of which could work for an 8-to-8 kind of day.
As weddings have become multi-day events, Hansford is also thinking of brides who don’t want to break the bank. A white sequined pantsuit befits a City Hall wedding, while a body-skimming strapless dress could suit a rehearsal dinner. “It doesn’t necessarily mean we’re the go-to destination for gowns, but we want to be her destination for guest of wedding, and fun parties, and events, and cocktails as well,” she said.
Hansford recently opened the first brick-and-mortar Simon Miller store in California in downtown Los Angeles’s Arts District, counting Hauser & Wirth and hip eatery Manuela as neighbors. For her, its location—and company—are indicative of where Simon Miller is heading. “I wanted to do our own thing that represented where we’re going as a brand and champion the arts, and that’s more of the working creatives,” she said. “That’s our customer.”
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