Miu Miu has relocated to the seaside for its latest campaign, and the brand has brought Elle Fanning, Karen Elson, Lara Stone, Carolyn Murphy, Elsa Brisinger, Birgit Kos, Sonia Ben Ammar, and Ellen Rosa with it. The spring/summer 17 shoot is titled Suddenly Next Summer and was photographed by Alasdair McLellan. Describing the setting as “the proverbial carefree, sun-soaked beach that recalls countess summer films from Il Sorpasso to Beach Blanket Bingo,” Miu Miu also ventures to examine “contemporary femininity and nebulous terms like actor, it girl, model, and celebrity.”
With that in mind, the brand couldn’t have chosen a more fitting muse than Elle Fanning. This marks the Neon Demon star’s second appearance in the Miu Miu universe: in 2014, when she was only 15, she joined Elizabeth Olsen, Lupita Nyong’o, and Bella Heathcote for Miu Miu’s Inez and Vinoodh-shot spring campaign.
Pairing endless blue skies with the collection’s sweetly nostalgic designs, it’s a well timed antidote to the chilly winter. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to be relishing in a southern summer, you can also take it as weekend inspiration. Not that the whimsy ever feels saccharine; Miuccia’s trademark social commentary is still present between the florals. The collection is about more than a day at the beach, alongside Prada’s spring/summer 17 presentation, it’s a meditation on simple pleasures and seeking quiet joy in an increasingly turbulent world. With references to 1950s style tropes, Mrs. Prada reminds of us another era of intense social and cultural change. Only Miuccia could say so much with a floral bathing cap.
Credits
Text Wendy Syfret
Images via Miu Miu