A few years ago, Chloë Sevigny told Vogue that she doesn’t like attending fashion shows, let alone walking in them. “I really don’t like walking in shows… I don’t even really like attending shows!” she claimed. But for someone who dislikes stepping onto the runway, she loves to make a habit of it. Her first ever catwalk cameo happened 20 years ago, during Miu Miu’s SS96 show, following her breakout role in Larry Clark’s Kids. She was 21 years old at the time and already emerging as New York’s next It girl, but it was walking for Miu Miu that cemented it. 

1996 was a turning point for both Miu Miu and Sevigny, and now, two decades on, they’ve reunited to mark the occasion. Sevigny returned to the runway once again earlier today (March 10) during Miu Miu’s AW26 show in Paris, adding to the running list of shows she’s walked, which includes Simone Rocha, Mugler, Proenza Schouler, and as of today, a total of three Miu Miu shows. But she wasn’t the only familiar face. TV icon Gillian Anderson closed the show, wearing a dusty, diamond-embellished shift with a salmon-pink bra poking out over the top. 

Joining Sevigny and Anderson were actresses Diana Silvers, Viola Prettejohn, Suzanne Lindon, models Gemma Ward and Kristen McMenamy, and musicians Lauren Auder, Yeonjun and Charlie Osborne. And it wasn’t just the catwalk that featured an all-star lineup; the front row was equally starry, with Little Simz, Alexa Chung, Tyla, Nara Smith and Lola Tung all in attendance. 

The collection itself was titled Mindful Intimacy, dedicated to the sheer magnitude of our universe and how we are barely a dot in comparison. “I am obsessed with the smallness of the body,” Miuccia Prada explained, “in a human sense, the contrast between ourselves, our bodies and the vastness of that which surrounds us.” Hosted inside Paris’ Palais d’Iéna, the space was mid-metamorphosis, like a scene from Where the Wild Things Are, transforming from a palazzo to a wild forest. The floor was covered by a blanket of green moss. 

The clothes were metamorphosing too. Sevigny’s look was a black leather pinafore dress with a matching blazer, only, it looked as if the clothes were slowly starting to grow moss themselves – swampy brown shearling decorated the hem of the dress and jacket. Flared trousers were so long that they dragged along the ground like they were becoming a part of it, meanwhile, the colour palette remained neutral throughout, with minimalist shades of grey, black, coffee and powder pink.  

Minimalism was a theme throughout, reminiscent of that pivotal 1996 collection. “This collection is not about fragility – there is a confidence, and a strength. Sometimes the body is simple, sometimes it’s enriched, mainly in accessories, hats, belts, shoes,” continued Prada, emphasising that minimalist design can be just as confident as maximalism. Pared-back fashion does not equate to shyness or fragility. “There is a delicacy, but not a vulnerability, a strength in yourself. And there is the idea that I am enough, yourself is enough.” Thanks Mrs P, we needed to hear that.