Leave it to Miuccia Prada to produce two of the strongest shows of the fashion month. She was the big winner in Milan with her traveling-sailor-inspired show. Here in Paris, on the final days of the collections, she sent the fashion world off to catch their plane, trains and automobiles in an upbeat mood thanks to a Miu Miu collection that was one of the best in recent memory.
It had a cool and sophisticated retro 50s air that felt womanly and just a tad wanton. Lara Stone certainly looked the business in a glossy purple hourglass dress with bows on the shoulders and bosoms on tap. But it was more than that. After seasons filled with clashing patterns colors and proportions that pushed the envelope of good taste, this collection was just good old fashioned gorgeous.
What’s not to love in a cropped workwear-style burnt orange velvet jacket with wide fur cuffs? Who is going to be able to resist an indigo denim (yes denim!) skirt gathered up on one side and its matching velvet patchwork and denim jacket? And the final two exits, those upholstery brocades coats had a rich recklessness about them that will be like catnip to collectors of Prada’s work.
The collection, which appropriated many menswear staples, still maintained that all-important quirkiness that people love about the Miu Miu brand. The colorful argyle sweaters with built-in pocket squares, the furry pearl-embellished slippers, the weighty tapestry pieces and Jodhpur trousers ticked that box.
What made this collection such a success was the way Prada used more utilitarian base elements, cut them in pieces that often referenced menswear and still come up with an end result that was so utterly feminine and powerful.
The designer might have shown the day after International Women’s Day, but this collection was a fantastic example of a woman fully in control of her creative universe.