BY PHILLIPE POURHASHEMI
Cabaret Girls
The last Miu Miu show offered the perfect balance between formality and escapism, OTT effects and pragmatic cuts
Being the oracle of fashion may sound like a tedious task, but Miuccia Prada does it effortlessly and instinctively. The collection she presented for Miu Miu today managed to encapsulate the mood of the season, while reconciling two directions that -until now- had seemed at odds with each other: security and escapism. In challenging times, do we look for clothes that give us confidence or are we attracted to the eccentric and the playful? Prada beautifully articulated her show around this key reasoning, and her clothes were either glamorous, ornate and intricate or rather sharp and effective.
The opening look of the show, a vintage-style woolen coat with big rounded buttons, worn over a full-length creased satin dress, set the tone for an ongoing dialogue between plain and fancy. Miuccia Prada indulged in the current square shoulder trend and her jackets looked impeccable, but she combined them with provocative slit skirts, adding eroticism to an otherwise strict silhouette. Nods to the military and uniforms were also there, but we know that Prada has always been fascinated with utility and anonymous, generic clothes. Chubby faux fur coats evoked Hollywood’s golden age while several sheer pieces were embellished with cascading crystals, both opulent and decadent. It was hard not to think about Great Depression era dressing, the Weimar Republic’s permissiveness or Berlin in the 1930s.
While Miu Miu is often the go to label for fashionably cool and adventurous girls, Prada offered us clothes that were more mature this season. Or were the kids better at playing dress-up? Substantial pieces included menswear-inspired outerwear trimmed with fluffy faux fur and zip-up sailor knits that were prim and proper. Still, you couldn’t help but think of a certain naughtiness and willingness to entice. With a soundtrack including Liza Minnelli’s Cabaret, Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed and David Bowie, it was clear that seduction was on the designer’s mind.
