PARIS - The look on Miu Miu's spring-summer 2010 ready-to-wear catwalk Wednesday was like something off a straight-to-DVD movie: "Schoolgirl by day, callgirl by night...."
The show started with long lean pants and matching button-down shirts in navy and black silk printed with coloured swallows, sleeping cats or Matisse-like naked figures. The shirts' long, downward-facing lapels and elongated bouffant sleeves gave the looks a swinging '60s feel.
That was the schoolgirl part.
It got more complicated from there. Designer Miuccia Prada sent out the same slim looks, but with whole panels sliced out of the midriffs, which reduced the shirt to a sort of bandeau top with long sleeves and a collar.
Prada - who also designs for the eponymous Milan-based label - kept on slashing the look until just the sleeves and collar remained. She attached them to little dresses in nude tulle adorned with swirling feathers in oversized rhinestones and big orange sequins that looked like they belonged on a Vegas showgirl circa 1955.
It was a disconcerting look that stayed true to the slightly kinky, subversive edge that has come to be associated with Miu Miu - Prada's second line, which has lower prices and is aimed at younger consumers.
The collection was also among the most original of Paris' eight-day-long ready-to-wear collections, which wind down Wednesday: The schoolgirl-on-top, showgirl-on-bottom look stood out from the sea of big-shouldered, asymmetrical dresses, high-waisted short shorts or artfully draped cocktail numbers in neutral tones that have flooded Paris runways.
