Paris – The last important event of Paris fashion week, and the final major show of the four-city, four-week season of spring 2012 women’s ready-to-wear collections, was seeing the latest ideas from Miu Miu on Wednesday, Sept. 5. And it did not look remotely like any of the some 300 shows that preceded it.
It’s true this Miu Miu runway was crammed with lace, the defining fabric to wear next spring, but this was lace very much on Miuccia Prada‘s own terms. The designer bought 750 meters of Chantilly lace for the collection. But where other designers employed lace delicately, Prada dipped the Chantilly in dark baths of dye and coated many meters in plastic to generate a new power chic.
“My inspiration were the great women of history; quite a few queens and several femme fatale, but no movie stars,” Prada said with a smile post show.
Miu Miu‘s new ruling ladies came with red eyes, waxy hair and dark hair eyeliner, yet her tough chic was not uptight. The opening half-dozen looks featured flared skirts paired with short tank tops, so there were lots of tummies on display.
One defining look featured a lace skirt, black cotton bustier and mini cape, held on by ribbon, anchored by great new arty cowboy boots featuring three-dimensional leather flowers.
And while the season has been dominated by floral prints, Miu Miu‘s key prints were patch work motifs, again hinting at Renaissance queens with their dark paisley mixes.
Welcome to the new forbidding chic.
