It was only fitting that Miu Miu would have the final say this season. Thanks to a change in the traditional schedule, the show rang out a month of collections, for which its last proposal set the tone in a big way. Other than Balenciaga, no brand has been as impactful as Miu Miu on the silhouette we’ve encountered on daily runways over the last four weeks: an oversized blazer or coat worn over a lingerie element and a mini- or evening skirt. This season, Miuccia Prada reiterated that influence in a collection that continued where the last one left off, reminding the industry who got the idea in the first place.
The winter embodiment of the Miu Miu girl we’re still getting to know was less of a workaholic and more of a sports freak. After disrupting archaic office dress codes last season, she set her sights on the tennis court, giving Wimbledon officials more than they bargained for in super-short, low-riding Y2K skirts and tops with cheekily placed see-through lace panels. She didn’t care if it was winter because she’s too hot to get cold. Memories from her junior ballet phase (she outgrew it) manifested in ballerinas and knitted socks before her inner rebel really took over and things went hell for leather.
As the same theme appeared in new variations—shearling, snakeskin-printed or stained leather, with faux-fur lapels—a more gender-diverse expression of the Miu Miu person took shape, demonstrating how the skimpy silhouette also works on nonbinary and traditionally masculine (yet very slender) physiques. Put into practice, it wasn’t a mirage. Along with every fashion girl and their mother this month, men have been wearing last season’s cropped Miu Miu cable knits and little jackets to the shows and often with viable results. This time, there was new material for them to obsess over: lace-up leather trousers, big buckle boots, and some prettily encrusted sheer crystal dresses, if there’s time for a drink after tennis.
Prada invited guests to watch her show in deck chairs decorated with the animated monster motifs by the duo Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg. As a designer who famously never sits back to relax, this season was an exception. The impact of October’s Miu Miu show was so strong it will echo far beyond the next six months, and now is the time for her to capitalize on that. Kicking back in Prada’s deck chair, you couldn’t help but smile for her. With a co–creative director in place at Prada, it seems she now has the time to focus more on Miu Miu and show us she’s still got her singles game down to a tee.
