Miu Miu’s Fountain of Truth
Review of Miu Miu Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Truth-seekers, re-contextualised simplification, dishonest glamour, hyper-classics
When not in the room, what can be missed are the deeper meanings, or influences, behind a designer’s collection. Even the type of fabric used for a look can often be wrongly attributed in the fleeting rewatch of a livestream.
Today’s Miu Miu show was an example of the layers of storytelling (an often overused word, but in the case of Miuccia Prada, there are always layers) that only those in the room would be privy to, due to being immersed in the set, through to receiving the physical invitation.
Todays layers were a set made to replicate a newspaper printing plant, and a roughly 3-minute film of a story between two undercover writers (Pathos and Logos) at The Truthless Times. A newspaper (a medium to spread truth – most of the time – was also used in the same way by Stella McCartney just one day earlier) funded by the Queer Labour Party, which took a satirical look at our imagined AI-driven future in 2034, with headlines such as ‘Production Problems in Self-Production Discovered’ and ‘Digital Malfunction Sparks Tempered Optimism’ . The storytelling throughout todays show was a conceptual collaboration between the brand and artist Goshka Macuga, who developed the ‘Salt Looks Like Sugar’ invitations consisting of two Miu Miu branded sugar (or was that salt?) cubes, standing as a metaphor for the very complex and “deceptive nature of truth”. As well as The Ruthless Times, containing not the written word as you would expect of a newspaper, but instead articles that could only be read via scanning a QR code (very AI, and a worrying glimpse into the not-so-distant future).
What is likely to be taken from todays show is the baby-grow style T-shirts, retro-infused sportswear, the unarchiving of the brands 70s-style wallpaper prints, open-back embellished shift dresses, and the multi-layering of shirts, swimsuits, and skirts, as well as the subverting of the humble shirt. In reworking markers of school uniforms, the shirts were layered together and twisted around the body as part of todays symbolism that Miuccia Prada said was the foundational idea for the season, i.e. the examining of “youth as a period of absolute truth”. As our early youth is one of the only times when honesty is a given, no matter if it causes hurt feelings or reveals an adults deceit, children are always taught to ‘tell the truth’. Which is why the simplification of childhood silhouettes was chosen for spring 2025. This included a reimagining of the crisp cotton tunic dress developed in collaboration with Petit Bateau, the 1920s founded childrenswear outfitter to generations.
Its interesting that throughout this season so few designers, outside of New York, were discussing or taking a stand on anything political, in what has been a highly charged year, with the US elections still to come in November. In todays notes Miuccia Prada said “In the context of of the post-truth era, where the boundaries between fact and fiction are increasingly blurred, understanding who controls the narratives related to events becomes even more critical. Issues of truth, misinformation, and manipulation are intricately linked with questions of power, freedom of speech, and representation”. This kind of necessary discourse and critical thinking is what can be frustratingly lost once the runway goes dark. If it is not shared via social media, or highlighted in a campaign, or the designer themselves puts their head above the parapet and makes it about more than clothes. In todays context, we the audience were asked to think about our own role in shaping the discourse, in our public expressions via social media apps and the written word. With the freedom we have to do so both a blessing and a curse as we struggle in the fight for truth.
Celebrity friends of the house also walked the show – Alexa Chung, Hillary Swank, Willem Defoe, and Little Simz – and instead of feeling like a headline-grab, with Miu Miu, it’s not hard to believe that these stars actually wear the brand in their downtime and chose it for their red carpet appearances.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
I love the gestures, the idea of wearing things the wrong way”
Miuccia Prada, creative director, Miu Miu
THE WRAP UP
The Miu Miu uniform is so well-established in popular culture that it has became a self-referential “body-of-work” for Mrs Prada, from the twee knits to the glossy primary-bright leathers, wallpaper prints, and both retro and technical sportswear influences. Her archive is vast enough that the designer can combine ideas from decades past “with a sense of impulse” and change their purpose for an alternate reality.
