Gallery

Shot in London by Mert Alas and Marcus Pigott, the Miu Miu women’s wear campaign is notable for the fact that it marks the return of the model as opposed to the celebrity. Drawing on Miuccia Prada’s reputation for discovering new faces, the three models featured had never been seen in any fashion editorials or campaigns before. This is not a case of newness for its own sake, however, although the search for each subject took many months to achieve. Instead, the thinking behind the move is to create a series of entirely different personalities – images of highly individual women with a strong sense of character.

In order to emphasize the importance of this to the campaign, the women concerned are captured in black and white and in a studio setting, introducing an element of classic portraiture, while clothing and accessories appear in colour. The neutrality of this season’s palette – black, grey, brown and in particular all the shades of beige – appears all the more rich and multi-layered due this device. The Miu Miu woman is playful, but always complex and never passive. Immaculately groomed – though one would never describe her as studiously soignée - her hair is swept back to reveal the idiosyncrasies of her lovely features. Her clothes take the staples of the bourgeois autumnal wardrobe – fur, camel, tweed and jeweled embroideries – and discreetly subvert them. An oversized tailored wool jacket may be sleeveless and worn over a bra top in the same fabric, for example. A stole may be attached on the bias. A pair of thick ribbed tights boasts as much sparkling embellishment as a black dress. The Miu Miu spirit decrees that clothing and accessories indebted to the values of traditional luxury may be worn with a sense of invention and mischief.