Gallery

The Spring/Summer 2011 Miu Miu women’s wear campaign evokes the spirit of performance and the stage. Here is a sparkling hall of mirrors, where every facet of a woman’s imagination and desires is revealed through both personality and wardrobe. Textile, colour and cut are as poetic and complex as the characters they convey.

Models Querelle Jansen, Saša Pivovarova and Kasia Struss are photographed in London by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, styled in the manner of barely breathing mannequins, all slicked back hair and crimson mouths. Far from passive, however, the overall effect is aggressive, reflecting a society that is obsessed with celebrity.

Inspired by on-screen costume, flower, flame, snake and star prints are re-invented to suitably stylised effect. Fluid satin, heavy cotton and leather are cut into a graphic but always feminine silhouette. Colour is intense – preternaturally deep, bright and bold. If the juxtaposition between black, white, ruby, sapphire and emerald with shimmering gold and silver is surprising, then flashes of fluoro pink, lemon and lime are more fresh and unexpected still.

A glittering exploration of identity at its most empowered and empowering; a study of femininity that is as playfully inventive as it is alluring.