Miuccia Prada has apparently done it again – setting the standard for the season to come and doing it by not going the predictable, clichéd, expected route for Spring 2004 (like so many New York designers who unfortunately, seem to have said to themselves, “okay it’s Spring- let’s give ‘em pastels, ruffles, florals, brights.” Bravo Miuccia: just when fashion starts getting boring and formulaic, Miuccia shows us the way, and more importantly, shows us how to mix our own clothes for similar effect. If you just pay attention to what she does on her runways, you really don’t have to go out and buy new clothes each season- she is such a wealth of styling tricks. (Although some of her tie- dyes are to die for!) And best of all, she really didn’t change her aesthetic from fall- she just made it more relaxed and easy (more ‘je ne sais quois’), which is what Spring should be all about, n’est- pas?
Speaking of Miuccia- her delicious and irreverent influence (such as the vintage inspired, individual, eclectic, eccentric vision she sent out for fall/winter 2003) has been the inspiration for many designers this season, and was seen all over the colorful and splendid pages of October Vogue. Dedicated to ‘Freestyle Fashion’, Wintour’s mag, as far as I’m concerned, completely ‘BLEW OFF’ its competition. More to the point, Harper’s Bazaar looks especially uninspired when critiqued next to Vogue. Just compare the brilliant, colorful, exuberant pages in the portfolio ‘Mad About You’ styled by Camilla Nickerson and photographed by Steven Meisel, to the awful ‘Round the-Clock Wardrobe’ styled by Brana Wolf and photographed by Patrick Demarchelier. There IS no comparison. Bazaar’s styling has truly gone downhill. – reported by Marilyn Kirschner
