Thursday, March 10, 2011

Best of Paris Fashion Week

Miu Miu FW11

by Grace Gordon

While Miuccia churned out a thought-provoking, avant-garde collection for Prada just weeks ago, she turned her attention to the simple elegance of the 1940s for the Miu Miu runway. Bold shoulders and an inverted top-heavy triangle silhouettes brought masculine simplicity to the dresses and sportif suit separates in this collection.

This collection, while tamer than usual, still had a lot to offer. The procession of solid blocks of color was broken up by whimsical flower print dresses. Mink wrapped the hips and shoulders of several dresses like a luxurious hug, and blousy floral scoop-back tops brought darling detail to plain sheath dresses. While some of the looks were blocky or boyish, none of them were dated. In fact, the bare-legged models looked coltish and cute instead of mature and matronly (a risk Miuccia ran by showing triangular inverse proportionality). Other precious 40s details were the models' hair held back by chic combs, matte red lips and oversize coin purse clutches. The simple sophistication of this show brought the label into a rare realm of elegance.