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Miu Miu: Femme Fatale Fantasy

The Fall 2009 fashion week term finally ended Thursday evening, March 12, in Paris with the last major show on the Paris calendar, Miu Miu, which turned out to be a lesson in fashion creativity and a ground-breaking affair. It confirmed the label's designer, Miuccia Prada, as the reigning heavyweight champion of style.

All season, from the opening shows in New York on Feb. 12th to this Miu Miu display in a enormous private mansion on Avenue Foche, Paris’ most expensive real estate, designers have been grappling with the question of how one dresses women for the new economic and political realities.

Prada’s solution: Become a femme fatale. If that sounds like a somewhat backward step, then so be it. According to Prada, what matters most is that you look great in the new era. Her models certainly did this evening in Paris, traipsing out in a plethora of variations on Himalayan carpet prints that were dyed, faded and cut into some remarkable dresses and skirts, the latter paired with semi-sheer tops. Moreover, she spray painted the models gold, then showed lots of their flesh and cut most looks with deep front gorges, right to the belly button and had skirts way above the knee.

“I wanted to send out the biggest sluts imaginable, but then everyone came in backstage and told me how chic the girls looked!” Prada said, a bit mystified by the reaction.

A brainy collection like Miu Miu can evoke widely different reactions with the same outfit. A sleek, three-inch below the knee skirt with a high waist can telegraph school marm, but a sheer, deep gorge top in mesh says tart.

Prada also presented a slew of great new shoes, from thick heels with fur trim to zig-zag fur clutches in the most subtly colored show so far.

While perplexing in terms of social commentary, Prada’s choice of femme fatale as role model did lead to an intriguing collection. Allied to her stellar show in Milan with Prada, it maintained her status as fashion’s most influential designer even if it put in doubt her reputation as a standard bearer for independent women.

* Miu Miu: Clear as the Driven Gauze		* A Very Betsey Birthday Bash * Martha Davis: Industrial Design Meets Shoes