The Unstoppable Rise Of Miu Miu
It’s not unheard for people to adopt a Steve Jobs-inspired approach to dressing: choosing a uniform and sticking with it makes mornings a lot easier. But only one person I’ve met does so in head-to-toe Miu Miu.
Meet Angela Hill, the fashion photographer and co-founder of iconic London-based IDEA books, who owns seven full look by the Italian brand, one for every day of the week, from a set of pearl-studded pyjamas, to her white logo-stamped polo shirt, to the coveted Miu Miu X New Balance trainers.
FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE
'I really love having life simplified,' says Hill, whose interest in Miu Miu was piqued four years ago, when eponymous designer Miuccia Prada started working closely with achingly cool stylist Lotta Volkova. 'I do not want to open the wardrobe and have stacks of clothes. I love Miu Miu at the moment [so] why not wear it all the time?'
While Hill’s devotion to the brand is unique, she’s not alone. In fact, it’s hard to recall another label that’s climbed its way to the top of today’s rapidly shifting fashion zeitgeist and stayed so steadily put — even as the old trends are cycled out and new ones are wheeled in, fads on both ends easily traced back to Mrs Prada’s runway shows.
Consider the high street, where the impact of Miu Miu’s notoriously midriff-baring SS22 collection is still reverberating through azure button-ups and grey cardigans. Or the ongoing batch of fashion month street style snaps, in which shearling-collared bomber jackets and bag charms proliferate. At yesterday’s SS25 show in Paris, models looked like they’d hurriedly robed after an hour at the lido: cut-out swimsuits peeked through under gauzy colour block dresses, and sliders were paired with collars askew — a hint of what fans will painstakingly recreate next summer.
Unsurprisingly, fashion search engine Lyst has named Miu Miu its brand of the year for two consecutive years, citing its viral designs, celebrity tie-ups, hit collaborations, and digital prowess. This cultural capital is matched by actual capital: in March, Prada Group announced financial results that placed its performance heads and shoulders above slowdown-stricken luxury peers. Sister brand Miu Miu played a starring role: fourth-quarter sales rose a staggering 82%.
What’s the secret sauce? For one, there’s Miu Miu’s now age-agnostic charm, embedded in everything from design to casting, that endears it to a broader audience. Though the viral micro-minis aren’t for everyone, recent season’s ultra-wearable boxy shirts, utilitarian jackets and sporty hoodies are seen on more bodies than the brand’s 1990s babydoll dresses ever were, and the logos ensure you won’t miss them.
Coupled with design and merchandising, discerning casting— from SS96 poster child Chloé Sevigny and TikTok-fluent Bella Hadid, to K-pop starlet Wonyoung and China’s 70-year-old Dr. Qin — has cemented the ‘Miu Miu woman’ as aspirational in style, humour and intellect while keeping the concept nebulous enough for mass resonance.
'Miu Miu is a trans-generational brand now. I sell it to 16-year-old girls and 60-year-old women,' says Alessia Algani, the founder of Milanese vintage store, Shop the Style. 'It’s like if you’re borrowing your mother’s stuff,' she says of Miu Miu’s new-ish groove. 'You’re a girl with your sneakers and windbreaker, but you’re adding an embroidered skirt.'
This sweet spot appeals to younger shoppers, sure, but also older women on the lookout for playful, well-designed wardrobe building blocks, à la Hill. 'My mum wanted an investment bag, so she got a Miu Miu one,' says writer and fashion historian Ruby Redstone, a long-time collector of Mrs Prada’s vintage designs and Miu Miu’s SS10 collection in particular.
Redstone fell in love with the brand’s esoteric use of historical references when she started working in fashion. Of Miu Miu’s techy footwear from 1999, she says, 'it’s difficult to look at and takes an amount of flexibility with your taste to participate and style it.' Contrast that with the new Miu Miu, which she sees as less anchored by references, and instead competes with logos and hardware finishings. 'But whether or not it’s for me, it is really good design,' she notes.
Crucially, team Miu Miu knows what Gen Z wants. It has delivered ultra-femininity to a shopper overwhelmed by the state of the world (cue the TikTok refrain of No Doubt’s ‘Just a Girl’); the insouciant office siren to a remote working generation that romanticises the corporate 9 to 5, and remixes of English countryside and granola West Coast aesthetics so we can at least look like we’re going on walking trips, even if we don’t have the time.
And alongside bestselling basics, Miu Miu continues to serve us quirkiness in the form of band-aids and bag charms: delightfully kitschy add-ons that feel replicable even to those who can’t afford the real thing and allow for personalisation in a world oversaturated with ‘timeless’ clothing that can often make us all look the same.
What’s next? With the reprisal of vintage styles taking hold across the Prada Group and luxury as a whole, Redstone (who ELLE UK spoke to before the latest SS25 show) predicted a renewed focus on archival styles, which will introduce Gen Z to Miu Miu’s heritage while nodding to longtime fans.
Today’s bloomers, bug-eyed sunglasses, uncanny prints, and peep-toe pumps matched her forecast. At the venue, newspapers with the headline ‘endings unending as future moves to past’ revolved above showgoers’ heads. 'I think we’ll see a flattening of the divide between the old Miu Miu and the new,' Redstone adds. 'It’s a canny move to understand the market is there with collectors and to start designing around that.'
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
You Might Also Like
