The runway show on the last day of Paris Fashion Week is the perfect place to start learning about Prada's Miu Miu label. Miuccia Prada sent out a lineup of looks, referencing life's many stages, from girlhood to adulthood, on a cast that included Kristopher Scott Thomas. Since being conceived as a youthful sibling to Prada, Miu Miu has changed its positioning to speak to a broader church of customers. Miuccia Prada said after the show that she could choose what she wore.
The offering has become not only ageless, but increasingly genderless. The chief executive of the brand, who is thirty-something, said in Milan that the brand aims to speak to a universe of people. The opening up of the runway show casting says a lot. It is a youthful energy linked to attitude.
It is more about psychographics than demographics. The clothes and styling of the brand have changed dramatically in recent years due to the arrival of super-stylist Lotta Volkova. According to executives, the project started in earnest during the Pandemic lockdowns, and last week's results showed that the project is gaining pace. The EBIT margin improved to 22.5 percent. It is the most free expression of Signora Prada and it has always had a strong potential.
The challenge is to keep up the pace in a year when the steam has come off the luxury boom. The brand is stretching its customer base because it is the sister brand of Prada. The retooled product offering shows that Miu Miu believes in speaking to people with a youthful attitude. The micro-miniskirt is one of the brand's top sellers. "We are biker boots to ballerinas," said Petruzzo. The brand is building out key product categories, notably in leather goods with the launch of its Arcadie bags and collaborations with Church and New Balance. The main part of the strategy is to start conversations. After the dark days of Covid-19, the slashed hem of Miu Miu's micro-mini was a media sensation. It landed on scores of celebrities and helped drive demand for mini skirts to a three-year high. The micro mini by Miu Miu was a sensation and part of a strategy to give the brand visibility beyond its marketing budgets. You could slash your own skirt at home and still feel part of the moment, because you didn't actually need to buy Miu Miu's skirt. It is part of a strategy to create more noise for the brand. The stability of a multi-pillared business in an increasingly ferocious competitive environment is needed by Prada Group in order to create a solid foundation for growth. Sales at Prada Group rose 17 percent to $4.7 billion. The operational side of the group has been strengthened in order to strengthen the success of Miu. Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli said during the company's latest earnings call that the recent success of Miu Miu was due to strategic choices made over the last few years in product communication, distribution and human resources.
The first time a brand has had a dedicated executive is indicative of the change. The appointment was part of the broader managerialisation of Prada Group that took place since the beginning of the year when Lorenzo Bertelli joined the family company to lead marketing and communications. Benedetta is the first dedicated executive of the label. The CEO of Prada Group is a veteran executive who has led eyewear giant Luxottica for a decade and was most recently a senior manager. The team is not necessarily bigger, but there is more definition in its roles and separation from the Prada brand. After several years of leaving Prada, the staff at Miu Miu are happy and confident. Prada executives said that Chinese and Americans are coming back to Europe. On a visit to Milan this past Saturday, American and Chinese shoppers were among many Italians and Russians at the flagship stores of Prada and Miu Miu. The like-for-like growth of Miu Miu is even more noteworthy because it has reduced its network of stores over the past few years. Even if we may have more square metres of store in 2026, organic growth is the aim for the coming years. There will be more brand extension after the launch of fragrances. There is a possibility of more expansion into beauty, such as cosmetics, or other areas, but not yet. She said that there is potential to open other areas, but not at the moment. In 2006 Mrs Prada moved its show to Paris, and since then it has presented its new collections in the Palais d'Iéna. It is a way to separate the vision of Miu Miu from Prada.