Thirty is an age many of us start feeling some sort of niggling identity crisis. A brand is no different, especially one that’s seen unparalleled success all its lifespan. But as Miu Miu celebrates its third decade in business, following a whirlwind few years of Prada fever, Miuccia Prada demonstrates that there is no confusion here. For Spring/Summer 2024, the Italian fashion house darling is moving away from the design elements that have been inciting obsession in recent seasons and turned her focus towards the personal touches of beauty that really give clothes meaning.
“In an ever-changing world, beauty must echo the complexity of our era: this collection is a search for a reflective definition, a reactive address of beauty for modern times,” Prada wrote in her shownotes, explaining how she approached this collection to embody the individual. “Instead of rigid paradigms, there is a radical expansion, a rich plurality,” she continued. “Not beauty, but beauties, an embracing of unique characters.”
Platforming these dynamics, she plays around with identity with personalised styling, where instead of intricately crafted gowns that have taken 500 hours to produce, techniques are employed to create traces of ‘lived experiences’ that mark the range. In washed finishes and distressed and undone pieces, we see life and we see people. There’s something quite hilariously defiant about clothes that dare to suggest prior use in fashion, however, these details weren’t aimlessly wayward but intimated an existing love.
Shiny, new things are usually what is put forward in these glamorous settings, but with Spring/Summer 2024, Prada call on fashion’s profound interrelation with humanity, showing us how it can connect us to peoples’ experiences.
Interest in Miu Miu, as well as its older sister Prada, has spiked so exponentially over the last few years. But if you thought Ms. Prada was at risk of running out of ideas, you’d do well to remember that she’s been doing this for a while. And as she showed us with Prada’s Spring/Summer 2024 show earlier this season, her ideas going viral doesn’t change her ideas.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.