Prada and Miu Miu
Miuccia Prada’s strength lies in her refusal to play the now-tired game of fashion-is-art. Trained in art, she understands its mechanisms too well to mistake clothing for an artwork. She does not aspire to “wearable art”; a concept we are utterly tired by – but to something far more subversive: elegance that does not announce itself as such. Her work addresses those who love art yet do not wish to perform it on themselves. What emerges instead is clothing that is intelligent and impeccably made. The balance of elegance and humor in her work is perfectly measured – never excessive, never lacking, never tipping into parody, never collapsing into emptiness. And almost without fail, it’s flawless.
