Do you get great pleasure from strolling around local markets on your holidays, wearing a day dress and loading plump fresh produce and loaves of crispy bread into a woven basket? Or find comfort in kicking off your leather sandals or espadrilles to lay out charcuterie and spritzes on a gingham blanket to watch the sunset? The big question is, have you ever eaten a tomato-based meal in a white linen dress? If so, you’re right on cue for the summer’s biggest trend.

‘Tomato girl summer’ is hard not to notice this season. The antidote to ‘hot girl summer,’ which flooded our feeds with bikini pics back in 2019, the new trend proposes everyday elegance that harks back to the heydays of la dolce vita. So, whether you’re journeying to the sunny Mediterranean coast or not, the viral trend, leaving its red-tinged mark on fashion, beauty and lifestyle, is something everyone can get involved with.

As its name suggests, the ‘tomato girl summer’ trend hinges on the colour red, think bright injections of crimson, scarlet and ruby, offset with neutral cottons, linens, crochets and warm gold accessories. Chintzy floral prints and blues you’d spot on ceramics are also allowed – think 1990s-era Dolce & Gabbana at its best.  

For beauty, it’s liberal amounts of SPF (of course!), rosy cheeks and bridge-of-the-nose blush, the occasional fake freckle for that post-UV look, glossy natural lips for the day and perhaps a pop of bold red for the night. All in all, effortless beauty is a key component of the tomato summer aesthetic, plus a heavy dose of the red hue from where the trend takes its name.

The lifestyle sector is bringing the joys of the tomato craze into our homes, with an array of candles infused with the summery scent evocative of Caprese salads and freshly loaded focaccia, which will match your tablescape of tinted glassware and scalloped edge napkins just perfectly. So if you can’t make it abroad to take on the trend this summer brands like Loewe, Earl of East, Jo Malone and Malin + Goetz are providing ‘tomato girl summer’ vibes – wherever you may be!