What, no sparkly knickers? Miu Miu has moved away from the viral fashion catnip its been serving for the past few seasons (ultra minis, panties as outerwear, sticking plasters as accessories) and put the focus firmly on reminding us why Mrs Prada’s Miu Miu wardrobe has always been compelling. Classics, uniforms, bourgeois staples twisted – this is the Miu Miu way.

The show opened with shrunken, girlish coats in heavy wool, worn with cuffed slacks, pearls, a sensible shoe and a roomy zip-top bag tucked under the arm. So far so chic (think Jackie Kennedy in her book editor incarnation, strolling around NYC in the mid-seventies). Only the addition of man-size gloves suggested the Miu Miu girl sees the world through a different lens.

Those gloves proved a foil for short little baby-girl shift dresses sprinkled with strasse embroidery and lady-like wool suits paired with grey schoolgirl tights and Start-Rite black leather Mary Janes. Something for a little girl could be worn with something for a grown-up woman as Mrs Prada presented mother/daughter dressing in one look. “I think they are classics. Everyone can choose from them, to be a child or a lady. Every single morning, I decide if I’m going to be 15-years-old, or a lady near death,” said the designer after the show, which included some models who were nearer to the designer’s age (she’s 74) including Kristin Scott Thomas and Dr Qin (a Shanghai-based doctor and huge Prada collector).

Miu Miu has always been based on Mrs Prada’s wardrobe. Her favourite fifties skirts came in rose printed silk. Her love of a good jumper morphed into cosy cardigan jackets. Her habit of subverting bourgeois codes gave us ‘mink’ coats (they were actually dyed shearling) and the kind of chic LBD’s that Audrey Hepburn might have worn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – except that each dress came with daring cut outs. Goodbye sparkly panties, hello great clothes.

miumiu.com