October 4, 2023 |
The scene outside Miu Miu was akin to a great fashion migration. Herds of skinny girls, wearing oversized jackets with knitted knickers over burgundy tights, were teetering to the Paris show venue. Their sheer numbers confused the banks of street style photographers who didn’t know where to look for the best. It’s a testament to the triumph of the Miu Miu look, which has such a powerful hold on the fashion imagination. The ideas seen here – even eccentric ones like going out in just your knickers – quickly filter down the fashion food chain.
The Miu Miu tribe came in search of their next viral look and they found it. Miu Miu mashed up office-wear and surfing in a collection that was a masterclass in odd juxtapositions. Mrs Prada has made a career out of putting things together that shouldn’t work but do. The wet haired models looked like they’d been for a morning surf but dressed for the office in a hurry with high heels hanging out of overstuffed handbags.
The sparkly ‘going-out’ knickers of last season have morphed into red, green or blue Speedo-style swimming trunks worn on their own or poking out the top of low slung board shorts (these look like the wardrobe upgrade everyone will need for SS24). Mannish blazers, check shirts classic knits and woven thong sandals completed the strange juxtaposition, with many models wearing green plasters on their feet by way of added decoration.
The tiny skirt craze that Miu Miu started a year ago also continues with minuscule flounced minis worn with sporty little polo tops, flat Mary Jane’s and nerdy glasses. In a collection packed with ideas and options, other eye catching outfit collisions included boys in gold lace flapper dresses worn over slouchy jumpers and girls in gold lamé opera coats over swimming trunks and striped boyfriend knits.
Mrs Prada took her bow with Fabio Zambernardi who closed his 40-year partnership with Prada on a high. As her right hand man, he has helped shape the Prada and Miu Miu aesthetic, honing its disruptive ‘wrong chic’ into a code for modern dressing. One of fashions most influential but little know figures, he received a rousing ovation.
Photography courtesy of Miu Miu.
