Sweet, sinister and Seventies: this was a Miu Miu show for the diehard Prada girl

 
3 October 2013

Miuccia Prada's leading ladies are never straightforward. Instead, the Italian designer has form for painting a picture of a woman that is elegantly grotesque and as sweet as she is sinister. Yesterday, unveiling her latest collection for Miu Miu, Prada celebrated a bright young woman with an unsettling side.

That she bore a resemblance to the star of That Girl Named Candy, a film made by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola to celebrate the launch of Prada's newly launched Candy fragrance, was no coincidence: you've got the perfume, now buy the collection was Prada's suggestion to her customers.

Sugar-sweet pastel shades provided a firm foundation for a collection that brimmed with shopping opportunities for Miu Miu's diehard following.

Unveiled against the backdrop of a 1970s lounge lined with printed wallpaper and chic Swedish-inspired furniture, the show had a retro edge. Prada looked back to the decade with princess coats that came with neat piping trims and patch pockets and through swinging A-line skirts. Sheer tulle tops were worn with matching blouses to create an updated version of the classic twinset while a fox motif lent a childlike innocence.

But there was more to it than that. Stacked sculptural platform shoes with rubber soles and conical details served as a stark contrast and brought that dark, awkward aesthetic that no collection by Miuccia Prada is complete without. Pencil skirts and coats in blood-red high-shine vinyl further served to undercut the niceties.

When it came to eveningwear, Prada returned to a more conventional silhouette. Drop-waist dresses embellished with swinging crystal beadwork look certain to become a key money-spinner for the house. As did the candy-coloured fur coats that were a surprising inclusion for a collection that is due in store in spring, certainly for the European market.

Miu Miu is adored globally by fashion-forward women who are drawn to its intellectual approach. With this in mind, it seemed appropriate that Lena Dunham, award-winning writer and star of HBO show Girls, watched from the front row.

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