Stealing Miu Miu's "secret sauce" will add flavor to your personal style.
Not a shopping newsletter. Teaching you how to get innovative with what you already have.
Miu Miu has been making waves with its impressive sales growth as other (bigger) luxury brands continue to face slower demand. The brand’s retail sales skyrocketed by 93% in the first half of the year, a testament to its innovative approach, which in my opinion is driven just as much by the styling of the clothes as the clothes themselves.
We all long for Miu Miu, because the brand perfectly balances the same elements needed to enhance your personal style through captivating storytelling — I’ll show you what I mean & how to achieve the satisfaction of good looks at home yourself.
Before I dive in, a quick but important prelude. When I first meet with my personal styling clients I walk them through my signature style audit where I’m able to identify one of three key issues based on their symptoms:
They have a sourcing issue: They might not know what they like, or they might, but regardless struggle to find pieces in store or online, especially independently (without an influencer or friend dropping a link).
They have a styling issue: They can spot pieces they love, but have difficulty putting together fresh & creative outfits using the items they have. They often think the solution here is to continue shopping until they one day finally open their closet doors to fashion Nirvana (& that day has still yet to come).
They have a combination of both.
I highlight this because Miu Miu’s success illustrates how important it is that both the pieces themselves and the styling of them is what it takes to create a clear and compelling style story, and this too is exactly the recipe required for strong, magnetic personal style.
It’s the quality & integrity of the ingredients and the preparation & presentation of them that makes a great meal.
So here’s what we can learn from & apply to our personal style through Miu Miu’s lens.
Wearability & Versatility
When it comes to the clothes themselves- the heart of Miu Miu's appeal is its commitment to wearability.
Miuccia Prada’s designs reflect life’s many stages, making the collection relevant to a broad audience. Mrs. Prada even recalls herself, “I have to decide every morning if I am going to dress as I was as a 15-year-old girl or the lady I am today”.
The runway showcases styles that suit everyone, from young adults to mature fashion lovers.
The pieces are “ageless” and “increasingly gender-neutral”, appealing to a diverse range of consumers and wearers.
We see this through items like: wool coats & chino pants, cotton button up shirts, and leatherwear: gloves, belts, loafers, and handbags. This sentiment allows essentially anyone to dress in Miu Miu & also makes the line suitable for everything from casual outings to more formal occasions.
Creating Contrast
When the design becomes more gender focused, we find items that incorporate contradicting elements, like edgier feminine pieces- the viral micro-miniskirts- with softer masculine items which we might see in the form of a cashmere crewneck.
There’s contrast within the design and the styling here...
Edgy + feminine = contrasting.
Soft + masculine = contrasting.
Edgy feminine + soft masculine = heavy contrasting.
This approach enables consumers to express various facets of their personalities through the collection, while still maintaining a sense of balance in their style.
The Miu Miu girl finds a way to keep it conservative in her mini skirt and playful in her trousers.
In your closet, look for items that individually embody multiple points of view through the design, it should feel almost like it’s contradicting itself.
Let me know what you find in your closet!!
The more dynamic the piece, the more interesting the style story will be. Which brings me to the story itself.
Storytelling
Elaborating on my above notes, Miu Miu excels in storytelling through fashion, engaging customers on a deeper, emotional level.
The creativity & ingenuity of the line is clearly displayed through interesting, unexpected, & challenging style stories that make us pause.
There’s a quote that I love,“If you want to be interesting, you have to be interested”- David Ogilvy, and the Miu Miu girl is interested- in many things, both inside and outside of fashion.
Her many interests are clearly and simultaneously expressed through her multi-faceted style point of view.
Again bringing it back to contrast- the Miu Miu girl wears her woven Grecian sandals with colorful toe bandaids, an anklet made of rope & a structured wool blazer (middle). She wears understated leather slides with her silk Cheongsam style dress and garden-esque gloves (right).
Shamelessly weaving the micro-elements of her broader taste together through her attire creates bold, well-rounded, and engrossing stories that leave viewers asking questions about the woman underneath.
Outline the various components of your style point of view and general interests and tie those back to items in your closet. Reach for the parts of your personality that don’t make sense together. Challenge yourself to create outfits entirely conceptualized on unlikely pairings.
For example: maybe you find your love for ballet in a lace-trimmed georgette robe and your obsession with Mick Jagger in a Vivienne Westwood top handle tote.
The Sauce
Miu Miu’s impressive growth and market success highlight the power of both impeccably designed items & impactful storytelling through style.
CONTRAST is the name of the game in evoking a sense of mystery & dynamism while inspiring endless creative iterations.
By embodying these principals, you too can establish yourself as a leader through your style expression. As always if you need help in crafting your ideal style persona, book a style call with me!
See you next time (soon).
XX,
B