Immediately revealed on the catwalks, immediately museumized. Such is the fate of a Miu Miu ensemble presented during Paris fashion week on October 5, 2021, which is already on display at the ModeMuseum in Hasselt, Belgium. “When we selected this outfit, we couldn’t have predicted that it would become so popular”, admits Eve Demoen, curator of the “DressUndress” exhibition devoted to nudity, which runs until November 20. However, what flair! Six months after showing, the Miu Miu silhouette is everywhere on social media and on magazine covers, worn by women of all ages (from 20-something Hailey Bieber to 54-year-old Nicole Kidman) and of all body types – curvy women and pregnant including. “The outfit even has its own Instagram account”remark, amazed, Eve Demoen.
What is the object of so much enthusiasm? A gray knit sweater over a royal blue shirt that looks like it’s been cut clean below the breasts by a pair of ruthless scissors; they are associated with a belted beige microskirt, victim of the same fate, so short that the inside of the pockets protrude on the thighs and that it lets glimpse the curve of the buttocks. An outrageously sexy look, but that’s not its only feature. It also evokes the look of schoolgirl navel to the air of Britney Spears in the clip of Baby One More Timereleased at the end of 1998. A taste of the sexy trash aesthetic conveyed by pop and R’n’B music of the 2000s, which is making a comeback, both with teenage girls in the street, models / influencers /stars like Bella Hadid or Dua Lipa, than with luxury brands.
On the catwalks, it is indeed a crop top (short top that stops above the navel) in the shape of a butterfly whose upper wings cover the chest that we discover at the Italian brand Blumarine, identical to the one, branded Ungaro, once worn by Mariah Carey on the red carpet. The rimless smoked glasses loved by Bella Hadid and recently seen at Fendi seem to be borrowed from those of the American singer Aaliyah, and the low-waisted pants, seen at labels as varied as Loewe, Gauchere or Alled-Martinez, evoke those of Avril Lavigne or Paris Hilton (“If you wear jeans, go for a really low rise”intimated the latter in her autobiography in 2005).
Contemporary fashion is also restoring the laced crop top (Supriya Lele, Ludovic de Saint Sernin), the thong that sticks out over the hips (Off-White), the XXL lace-up sneakers (Lanvin). An aesthetic also boosted by the resuscitation of labels in vogue at that time and which we thought were outdated forever: Diesel, Von Dutch, Juicy Couture (which has just signed a collaboration with Ganni)…
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