The Miu Miu resort collection was shown with no fanfare in its Milanese showroom months ago. The arrival of these images is an indicator of how fashion timelines have been disrupted by the pandemic; as a prequel to the spring 2021 show, which was recently livestreamed on video, these pictures would have once been introduced before it. But aligning deliveries with the seasons is now a business priority for fashion companies, as it raises the hopes of whetting the customers’ appetite for a bit of festive dressing up, forcing them out of exhausted sweats and worn-out loungewear. Christmas is definitely coming—but parties?
Giving in to doom and gloom isn’t a sensible option—it won’t turn the situation around for the better. Confronting the present circumstances by taking a positive stance seems the intelligent—albeit rather difficult—thing to do. And if the young Miu Miu clients are up for celebration, longing for a good time, who can blame such sentiments? Buying a good piece of fashion is a bona fide mood lifter that can help fight pandemic fatigue after the variously orchestrated curfews and quarantines.
Miu Miu fans will find plenty to like in this collection. As the look book’s images prove well enough, it’s a rather diverse offering, full of delightfully mismatched concoctions of vintage-y frocks, sporty pieces, glam eveningwear, and seductive lingerie. The overall effect is sensuality tinged with irreverence, ingenuity spiked with self-confidence, and a certain cheeky nonchalance. Jumbling a tux with a pair of track pants, throwing a men’s silk robe de chambre over a rose-printed strapless prom dress, or wearing a cool rockabilly coat with a leopard-printed frilly crinoline—the Miu Miu woman is a master of artsy self-representation, reconciling clashing pieces into unconventional-enough, yet well-put-together looks. She apparently knows how to balance what’s off-balance—which sounds exactly what we should all be trying to do now.
