The Miu Miu skirt is so short that it seems to never end. It has appeared almost daily for the past two weeks: on magazine covers, on the bodies of celebrities and influencers, and as the subject of articles about its reach.
The styling is part of that range. Typically, the low-rise miniskirt is worn with an equally extreme crop top, a polarizing look that gets extra attention when worn by someone unlike the models who introduced it to the Miu Miu runway in October. Like a 50-year-old actress or a plus-size model.
But Tuesday, the skirt made it clear — because the skirt is now conscious, with its own Instagram account and all — that it’s not going anywhere.
At Miu Miu’s fall 2022 fashion show, new ultra-short variants were born: no khaki and gray with raw edges, like the school uniforms with slashes introduced in the spring 2022 collection, but pleated white tennis skirts and dark leather boy shorts.
At least 10 of the original skirts were present to witness their evolution. When they got to their seats, the women who wore them looked at the sloping lounge chairs along the runway and thought about how best to sit down.
“Before the show, they asked me what looks I would be interested in, and I thought they would never send me this look,” said Jenny Walton (336,000 followers), a fashion illustrator who expected the skirt to be popular. (When highly photographed people are invited to fashion shows, they are usually dressed by the brand in pieces currently sold in stores.)
After learning that she had secured the look, Ms. Walton planned the next three days of training at Barry’s Bootcamp in Paris to prepare. When she tried it for the first time, she thought the length was “crazy,” she said. “But the underwear keeps it in place.”
The beige underwear was part of the look; the top band was meant to peek out from the waist of the skirt, adding about an inch to the overall look. (Think Tommy Hilfiger boxers in the 1990s.) Mrs. Walton, standing in the middle of her row, playfully flipped up one end of the skirt to show the fabric’s sturdiness.
“I mean I already have” this much of me,’ she said, gesturing to the space between the bottom of her breasts and the top of her hipbones.
Xenia Adonts (2 million followers), an influencer and founder of Attire the Studio, said she wore her own underwear under the skirt. She called the look “surprisingly easy to wear,” but thought it could be a little longer in the back.
“I asked my friend, ‘Can you see my ass?'” she said. “And he’s, like, ‘No.'”
When asked if they felt overexposed, the women said no.
“It’s sexy, but not too sexy,” says Ginevra Mavilla (538,000 followers), who wore the skirt with nearly knee-high socks and pointy kitten heel loafers. “It values the woman’s body and it gives you a lot of confidence.”
It also made her feel a little nostalgic.
“It’s like a high school revival,” said Ms. Adonts, who is 19.