Miu Miu Brought Its Maximalist It-Girl Back
In recent seasons, the Miu Miu show has defined epic eras of new, dominating trends: the micro mini skirt, the librarian geek-chic look, and the cool kid who hangs out at the mall circa the early 2000s wearing board shorts, polo shirts, and layered-up tops. But for fall 2024, Miuccia Prada went back to the core of ladylike elegance with a retro, weird twist—the maximalist aesthetic her biggest and boldest Miu Miu fans have loved since day one.
The co-ed collection might have kicked off with a minimal start, with long, double-breasted tailored coats in shades of chocolate brown, navy blue, and black, but the minor details and impactful accessories oozed character—which show notes stated were the heart of the collection. “A vocabulary of clothing, from childhood to adulthood,” read the notes. “The Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2024 collection by Miuccia Prada draws inspiration from the span and scope of people’s lives, its shifting clothing types reflective of the development of character, both personal and universal.”
Think: little strands of pearl necklaces, gas-station sunglasses, and oversized, chunky gloves. Top-handle bags were carried on the palms of the models’ hands and wedged into the crooks of the models’ elbows. As for the shoes? Slippers, little sturdy loafers, flat Mary Janes, and sculptural, low heels with dynamic points.
“I think that I kind of show fashion possibilities that I think are relevant now and after,” Prada said after the show. “You can choose memories. But that was not the point. The point for me was really that you can choose different moments of your life. I have mixed them up. I say to myself every single morning, ‘I have to decide if I am a 15-year-old girl or a lady near death.’”
Anchoring the maximalist, cool, grandma-chic vibe of the show were little knit cardigans, coat sleeves scrunched up with gloves, skirt suits, and dresses that seemed to pull deep from the codes of the little black dress or even maid uniforms. The micro mini skirt was the ubiquitous trend that wouldn’t die a few seasons ago, but this season Prada gave us the big, knee-length skirt with pockets. These skirts were printed with painterly flowers and finished with big, voluminous bubble hems. In a world where women’s bodies are always the topic of objectification, but never given free autonomy, it felt like a seismic shift taking the Miu Miu girl away from the sexy, minimalist and back to a quirky, cool girl who dresses for herself and no one else. Will we see a sea change of it-girls trading their minis for clean-lined skirt suits? Only time will tell, but the subversive skirt suit has already seen a favorable surge in the Dimes Square universe.
Likewise, the show had one of the most diverse castings for a Miu Miu show in recent memory, with characters of different backgrounds and ages walking the runway, including Ethel Cain, Amelia Gray, Little Simz, and Kristin Scott Thomas. How nice to see some models walking gleefully down the runway smiling. Adding to the quirk of it all was the video installation by the Belgian-American artist Cécile B. Evans, which featured a girl with a robotic hamster toy.
The bold mandarin-oranges mixed with cobalt-blues, mint-greens with mustard-yellows, and Kelly-greens with chocolate-browns felt intrinsically like the Miu Miu that’s been long missed in a world of quiet luxury and all things commercial. Grown-up peacoats were covered in sprays of metal flowers. Casual bomber jackets were paired with those satisfyingly bulky aforementioned skirts. A coral-color knitted dress with homespun appeal was paired with a suede jacket covered in a treasure trove of green crystals. As if to say, sure, dressing up creates character, but it’s all in how you wear it.
MIU MIIU FALL/WINTER 2024
Kristen Bateman is a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Her first fashion article was published in Vogue Italia during her junior year of high school. Since then, she has interned and contributed to WWD, Glamour, Lucky, i-D, Marie Claire and more. She created and writes the #ChicEats column and covers fashion and culture for Bazaar. When not writing, she follows the latest runway collections, dyes her hair to match her mood, and practices her Italian in hopes of scoring 90% off Prada at the Tuscan outlets. She loves vintage shopping, dessert and cats.