Preppy people, your time has rolled around again thanks to Miuccia Prada, whose cable-knit sweaters, Bermuda shorts and button-down shirts crowded onto Miu Miu’s curvy runway at the Palais d’Iéna.
Be warned: this was not the usual WASPy New England fare, but preppy clothing for the global warming years, with sweaters, blazers and collared shirts cropped short to reveal torsos — or shrunk down to the size of bikini tops. Some of the skirts and trousers were itty-bitty teeny-weeny, too. They were cut so short, the exposed pocket linings flapped as models walked.
Prada wasn’t the first designer to wield the scissors this season. Earlier in the week, Yohji Yamamoto snipped off the sleeves and collars from his creations and even designed a short dress — a rarity for the Japanese designer — in the name of keeping his customers cool as the planet heats up.
This latest show came in the wake of Miu Miu’s fall 2021 “skiing in a bikini” collection, which included colorful crochet bits and lingerie pieces earmarked for snowy mountain pursuits.
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Miuccia can’t seem to get the mercury off her mind — and neither can the wider business. Earlier this month, Prada Group took part in a pre-Cop26 event at Milan’s Triennale, partnering with UNESCO on an “Ocean & Climate Village” educational project aimed at young students.
Back in Paris, it wasn’t just the preppy stuff that got the chop: bejeweled, embroidered minis came with fraying, stringy edges, as did tailored pieces and a lovely Champagne midi dress, which had presumably started life as a gown.
There were lots of commercial pieces, too: wool suits paired with belted, low-slung skirts; oversize green or blue dégradé sweater sets; roomy gray trousers with a Katharine Hepburn feel, and a rack’s worth of luxe camel coats and trenches.
The show unfurled against the backdrop of a surreal video made by Meriem Bennani, a Morocco-born, Brooklyn-based artist. The video showcased walking office lamps and branded sheets of paper; a faux front-row audience reacting to the show, and a group of women of all ages cursing, roaring with laughter — and living their lives in the heat of the moment.