DIGITAL INTERACTIONS ARE THE FUTURE OF MIU MIU'S HYBRID FASHION SHOWS

11 mar 2022, for frame

Location

9 Av. d'Iéna, 75016 Paris, France

Design

OMA/AMO

Brand

Miu Miu

Art

Nathalie Djurberg, Hans Berg

As Miu Miu moves to a new genderless approach in fashion, its set-design focus is shifting from architectural interventions to digital interactions.

Key features

The historical interior of Palais d'Iena – an essential early concrete building by August Perret from 1937 – was the show’s location, with its monumental staircase part of the set. Beach chairs served as a canvas for artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg: fantastical ‘monsters’ – a bird and a hand – were depicted on the seating and animated for the show’s livestream. Otherwise, OMA/AMO’s architectural intervention was kept to a minimum. The folding chairs were just visitors – they will return to Italy after the show. The only additional details to Perret's interior were the mirrors on the walls, ‘enlarging’ the space and making the chairs seem more numerous. The whiteness of the seating contrasted the building’s grey-brown interior, an effect repeated in the collection: Miu Miu’s boldest looks stood white. Even though the collection was named womenswear, there were some male looks: a major part of the presentation was non-binary and might become part of any wardrobe.

Frame's take

Since 2011, Palais d'Iena has been a place for myriad spatial experimentations with OMA/AMO's Miu Miu shows. There have been many different attempts to intervene, transform, cover or expose the existing building. Until now, the sets have tried to connect the building’s heritage with the show. However, the Miu Miu AW22 set continues a new approach that started with SS22: Palais d'Iena’s interior is interrupted rather than transformed.

The Miu Miu SS22 physical show was punctuated with works of the artist Meriem Bennani on two levels: first, with binocular screens at the site, and secondly, with the interruption of its livestream with a series of artistic interventions. FW22 ultimately has focused on the online experience. This time, the artistic intervention doesn’t interrupt, it collaborates: grotesque claymation figures and twisted animations made the online experience even more affluent than the spectator's experience on the physical site. In this way, Miu Miu AW22 proves an excellent example of a fashion show as a hybrid spatial enterprise where digital design is key.