The Miu Miu label is ideal for those times when we feel like scanning the stores for an inexpensive simulacrum of a designer look—as in, every other Saturday, minimum. And when fall rolls around, and we are seized by the urgent need for a long plain boyish V-neck cardigan, or something tweedy and vintagey with a sparkly detail and a scrap-of-fur collar, or a dress with a semi-destroyed sexual allure, Miu Miu will be right there with the goods.
That's hardly surprising, because it was Miuccia Prada who invented, or reinvented, this look in the first place. Not that Miu Miu is an ersatz replica of Prada (leave that to the copyists). In this collection, she added original extras, like beat-up washed-leather jackets, long-line maxi coats, slim calf-length dresses, and skirts reminiscent of early seventies Ossie Clark. Beaded, jewelled details were applied to the oversize buttons on tweed coats and small forties-styled jackets, the edges of inverted pleats on skirts, and the toes of dainty brocade pumps. All of this was held together by a magically subtle color sense—chestnut, mousy browns, grays, maroons, and dull flashes of bronze, copper, antique gold, and green.
While some of the signature, crinkled lining-silk dresses looked irresistible, others—especially the sheer printed frocks—presented a what-do-I-do-with-this challenge. Ninety-nine percent of this collection, though, was totally liveable, mixable fashion—testament to Miuccia Prada's commercial intelligence, as well as her storied talent.
