Miu Miu Nuit 2021 Ad Campaign

Review of Miu Miu Nuit 2021 Ad Campaign by Photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott of M/M Paris with talent Ever Anderson, Ciara Bravo, and KiKi Layne

Miu Miu– shares a new campaign announcing the launch of its Nuit line – but does it take the brand’s exploration of girlhood and femininity in the right direction?

The brand’s new Nuit line seems geared to light up the night with sparkle and glamor through pieces that are infused with the excitement of getting ready for a night out. Photographed by Mert and Marcus, the campaign is appropriately nocturnal. Blinded by the paparazzi-esque flash of cameras, the young stars pose on their way out of an elegant nightclub.

Miu Miu has always been a creative vehicle through which Miuccia Prada could develop her exploration of femininity through a younger lens, even sometimes through the eye of girlhood.

But we can’t help but wonder whether this campaign is pushing it too far, and creating contradictions.

Ever Anderson is 14 years old; the other stars are in their 20’s, but the infantilization that comes from putting them in oversized jackets and excessive jewelry – as if stolen from their mother – seems undeniable, as does the fact that the flash and glitz of the imagery seems to glorify the paparazzi. We’ve seen countless stories of young women having their lives destroyed and their bodies exploited by media; is this really the kind of narrative that Miu Miu wants to sell?

If the brand is actually trying to market these clothes to teenage girls, it feels irresponsible and unrealistic; if they are trying to market them to actual women, it feels out of touch.

With its sexily deconstructed office wear, Miu Miu’s Spring 2022 collection was undeniably adult – perhaps the Nuit line is an attempt to maintain a more girlish set of offerings? But if so, a much stronger move would have been to tell uplifting stories with role models, rather than reducing its heroines’ identities to the flash and glitter of posing for a camera for the first time.