BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE
Th MiucciaPraddatakesusintoeMiuccia Prada takes us into the Miu Miu universe with a one-night-only takeover. Welcome to the Club. By Annabelle Fernandez
First, a government office. Next, xt, a courtesan’s mansion on the he Champs-Élyseés. Then, an automobile club (membership? ip? Men-only). Following that, t, a grand Belle Époque hotel. Each ach of these venues, exclusionary ary in different ways, reclaimed for a night and transformed into a nightclub hosting a fashion show; a cool, casual post-show dinner; and a hot-ticket after-party... Mini-rebellions staged thanks to one woman: Miuccia Prada.
Mrs Prada has always been drawn to the act— and art—of subversion. She entered the fashion industry as a politically-inclined feminist in the ’70s, at a time when fashion was seen as frivolous, and long ng before “feminism” became a buzzword. She made nylon, n, that most industrial and common of materials, an object ct of desire at Prada. But perhaps one of her most subversive e acts is what she has been doing for women since she e founded Miu Miu in 1993: Empowering them with fun, , feminine and fabulous fashion.
If Prada is the sophisticated, intellectual elder sister, Miu Miu is the free-spirited, rebellious younger child. And Miu Miu Club, the name given to its resort outings, is a perfect extension of the brand. Instead of a fashion n show alone, entrance into Miu Miu Club guarantees the ultimate night out.When else would you find yourself sitting, dining and dancing next to models, celebrities, fashion insiders and cool kids in a stunning showspace? space?
At the first edition of Miu Miu Club in 2015, 5, guests entered the 1937 Palais d’Iéna to find official government vernmen nt offices transformed into an underground Parisian nightclub. ightclub. . They watched as Mica Argañaraz opened Miu u Miu’s cruise 2016 show in a graphic mini dress, walking g down a raised runway constructed from scaffolding; dined amidst metal grids and PVC sheets; then partied ed with the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, ell, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Marc Jacobs.
The next year,The Clash’s Paul Simonon and nd Moss herself took to the decks at the Hôtel ôtel de la Païva, a private mansion on the ChampspsÉlyseés. Partygoers wandered in and out of its opulent rooms, discovering mannequins ns decked out in an energetic and irreverent nt mix of psychedelic pr ints, a cinema a (screening films from Miu Miu’s “Women’s ’s Tales” series, of course), a restaurant serving g chef Margot Henderson’s cuisine and a performance by a string quartet.
In the library of the men’s-only y Automobile Club de France, Mrs Prada dressed models in embellished jumpsuits, , knit rompers and other twists on traditionally tionally masculine automotive gear for the cruise se 2018 show. Seated at tables flanking the racing circuit- runway were guests such as Elle Fanning,Alexa Chung and Gwendoline Christie, who flitted between the bar, dining room and terrace. In July 2018, Chung and Christie went from front-row to walking the show, joining a star-studded cast of actresses and supermodels as they took over the gilded hallways of Hôtel Regina. Fast forward five months, and the club travelled out of Paris for the first time, for a restaging of the cruise 2019 show.
And that’s how I found myself getting past the velvet rope and inside Miu Miu Club Shanghai at the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, a historic hotel that also happens to house a former six-storey premier gentlemen’s club on its premises. Lounging with o other guests on antique Chinese couches and beds—a scene se set by art director Tu Nan, who recently won Best Production D Design at the Asian Film Awards—I cheered as Juliette Lewis opened the show by emerging from a giant birdcage, followed by model-turned-actress Du Juan, then models who had walked the original show in Paris, interspersed with China’s leading ladies of the silver screen. From 15-year-old Wen Qi, a risin rising star who made headlines as the youngest-ever winn winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the Gold Golden Horse Film Awards 2017, to 58-year-old veter veteran award-winning actress Kara Wai; the eclectic lineline-up was true to the brand’s DNA. As were the cl clothes, which were a mash-up of ethereal sleepwear and streamlined sportswear, high-shine gowns and cosy knitwear, fluffy feathers and dazzling r rhinestones, colourful animal illustrations and sultry leopard print.This time around, Christie closed the show in a striking gown worn by Uma Thurman at the Paris showing.
The next time I spotted Christie, she had changed into an embellished coat worn over a party-ready lace dress. Most of the models, however, remained in their runway outfits; their marabou feather-trimmed baby doll dresses and acid wash jackets emblazoned with “Miu Miu C Club Shanghai” taking them from the seafood bar to the cocktail bar, and even the dance floor, where Sha Shanghai’s cool kids grooved to the beats of DJs Chl Chloé Caillet, Agathe Moujin and Peggy Gou all nigh night long.
M Mrs Prada once said:“The thing that I would love most m would be to be seated in a bar with friend friends, from morning to night... I was like that w when I was young and in politics.That is what wha I liked; I like to be with people and to talk talk.”With ”With Miu Miu Club, she has achieved exac exactly that: A space where the Miu Miu woman can be among like-minded people; experience colle collections filled with bold, progressive clothes; and party hard into the night. ■