PARIS, March 12, 2009

By Nicole Phelps

Miuccia Prada wrapped up fashion month with a compelling Miu Miu collection that, like more than a few others this season, felt quintessentially Parisian. With bits and pieces from Histoire d'O, Visconti's Conversation Piece, and Fassbinder and Antonioni films on the soundtrack, it tried to answer the question, "What's the bourgeoisie now?" Or so the designer explained backstage, adding, "they were different kinds of femmes fatales."

The opening coat-dresses, most of them sleeveless, were worn half unbuttoned, exposing flesh-toned brassieres. Either that, or the dresses were draped in back, revealing bare expanses of skin a-shimmer from light dustings of iridescent glitter. A strategically draped long scarf edged in fur, meanwhile, might stand in for a missing shirt. Prada sent out coats and dresses made from what could've been upholstery fabric salvaged from the tony Avenue Foch manse where the show was held, then moved on to looks that paired filmy silk blouses with long, narrow skirts (the most striking combination came in turquoise and ruby). Toward the end, she put aside the underwear fetish that was a through line with her signature collection (in Milan it was red briefs) to show sleeveless shells and skirts in silk crepe embroidered with large, colorful gems.

The nude bras, furry heels, and paillette-covered kneesocks gave the vaguely seventies-feeling clothes an erotic subtext. But sexually charged undercurrents aside, what this Miu Miu outing boiled down to was a collection of great-looking, salable coats.