THE MAKING OF AN ICON

While stylists around the world went crazy over the now-famous Miu Miu mini set, comments from the general public were divided. It seems those “in the know” get it, while others simply don't. Divya Bala explores how a look or accessory becomes the industry's most coveted piece

- Divya Bala

It was the skirt of the season. If you could call it a skirt. Pleated, dangerously low-slung, and precariously truncated within millimetres of impropriety, that viral Miu Miu miniskirt requires about as much introduction as the coverage it offers: little to none.

Debuting on Miu Miu's spring/ summer 2022 catwalk in Paris last October, the micro lengths of said skirt and its pseudo-collegiate, ab-baring, cable-knit, crop-top combo sent showgoers into a frenzy. The smartphone camera tap heard around the Palais d'Iéna show space was soon heard around the world, multiplying into double taps that echoed throughout the channels of social media.

Editorials soon followed and the skirt was seen on actors Nicole Kidman, Emma Corrin, and Zendaya, models Paloma Elsesser, Lara Stone, and Emily Ratajkowski, rapper Saweetie, and activist Maxim Magnus, defying anyone who thought the mini was for a single body type. It moved at lighting speed into high-street retailers such as ASOS and Shein, where punters could pick up a copy for less than a tenth of the price of the original.

Google searches for the Miu Miu spring/summer 2022 micro miniskirt hit 900 a day according to data from Lyst in February, Depop searches for "micro miniskirts" went up 23.2 percent from the same time the previous year, and virtual styling platform Stitch Fix reported a 194 percent increase in inquiries from this year versus last. Oh, and matchesfashion.com sold out of the camel colourway in three days. But don't fret, DIY how-tos are trending on TikTok. A similar look may be surprisingly easy to achieve, with designer Miuccia Prada having seemingly taken to her more demure hemlines of recent seasons with scissors, with nary enough time to finish the hem (left raw), nor trim the pockets (the skirt is so short that the pockets spill out like secrets).