Miu Miu blows up handbags in inventive show

A model presents a creation for Miu Miu's Ready to Wear's Fall-Winter 2013-2014 fashion collection, presented, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 in Paris. AP/JACQUES BRINON

PARIS (AP) — Last season's boxy and printed looks were gone for Miu Miu's fall-winter 2013-14 show.

In their place was a more inventive collection that featured outerwear as dresses, exaggeratedly sized buttons and giant handbags.

Flashes of color in '50s polka dot neckties, stripy tights and Belle Epoque boots in gold and silver, gave the collection for Miuccia Prada's baby sister offshoot a great lift.

Wide collars that swept up to the shoulders on coat-dresses on cinched high waists were followed by looks featuring '50s full skirts.

Dresses made with quilted coat fabric, sometimes with large buttons and long zippers, saw Prada putting her own quirky stamp on an outerwear-to-innerware trend that's on high rotation on the catwalk of late.

But the best silhouette came toward the end: long column shapes in black and polka dot with a flared flounce kicking out from the mid-calf. It accompanied the piece de resistance — a one-meter (three-foot) handbag that had spectators gawking.

Show comments