This article was originally published on October 29, 2018.
It’s kind of accepted that Miuccia Prada is fashion (feel free to @ us). As the celebrated mother of the Italian house, Mrs. P is essentially fashion’s oracle – looking into the future and making us want things we never thought we would. Take nylon for example (wtf?), or a quilted satin alice band, or a four-hundred pound mini backpack keychain. See?
For a long time, fashion has been obsessed, rightfully, with Miuccia’s mind, so it was high time – in this age of ‘if you can name it, there’s an Instagram dedicated to it’ – we looked also to the wardrobe of the high priestess of fashion. Which is exactly what @whatmiuccia (short for What Miuccia Wore) is doing.
An incredibly far-reaching wardrobe archive, scroll through the account’s feed and you’ll find 1997 Miuccia standing with an array of models and her intellectual countenance annotated with a detailed description of the collection from that year, plus the garment she’s wearing. Next up is Miuccia in the office, Miuccia on the phone, Miuccia drinking a glass of champagne, Miuccia in conversation with Cate Blanchett, and Miuccia’s feet in a pair of Prada pumps – what else would she be wearing exactly?! Essentially, it’s Miuccia heaven.
Sadly, despite our IG DMs, our likes, and our bordering-on-needy comments on @whatmiuccia’s posts, whoever is behind the account has proven to be totally unreachable, and so its founder and their intentions remain a mystery.
One post, however, features a quote from the legendary Katie Grand, which pretty much sums things up: “Once, she was standing in the studio in this very prim, calf-length, pleated white dress, and you could see straight through it to her electric pink underwear. I don’t know if she knew it was transparent or not, but that mixture of being sober and conservative and then something quite shocking is totally Prada and totally her. It’s an unseen sexiness that’s completely instinctive.”
@whatmiuccia offers a look at someone whose clothes are a barometer for where style is. It’s a series of snapshots of the person whose instincts define our own sartorial choices. And if this collection of images of Miuccia prove anything, it’s that nine times out of ten those instincts are utterly perfect.