This year, Mira Mikati marks the 10th anniversary of her eponymous brand. If she skipped a formal presentation this season, it’s safe to say it’s because she has a surprise or two in store.
For now, she’s opening festivities with flowers and fireworks on dresses, skirts and denim, and sprinkles of rainbow confetti encased in transparent trench made from plant fiber-based eco-plastic.
In an interview on the fringes of PFW, the designer explained that she’s wanted to go back to school, figuratively speaking. “I’ve made mistakes and learned a lot of lessons along the way,” she said. Such as? “I took everything so seriously. There were tears and drama and sleepless nights,” she said. “Now I do the best I can without torturing myself because this is who I am. I’m more grounded.”
No doubt Mikati’s community will be charmed by the pencils, paint palettes, and headphones poking out of the pocket on a cardigan inspired by a school uniform. She also revisited some fan favorites, such as maximalist denim with doodles and DIY-style embellishments that nod to a major trend of the ’80s, a fringed blanket coat (now in short or long versions with a removable scarf) and suiting, for example a men’s pinstripe woven with gradient rainbow hues. In the arts & crafts department, a navy dress had bands of hand-crocheted trim and a sprinkling of mushrooms, a cable knit came with felted fill-ins, and accessories included knit waistbands (a new category) or tube lariats with flowers attached. Porcelain daisy buttons on a pajama top and a tulle bustier dress embroidered with crystals evoked the puffy stickers beloved of kids everywhere. Among Mikati’s new slogans were patches and embroideries proclaiming, “not ordinary” or “head in the clouds” or “these are the good old days.”
Looking ahead, Mikati allowed that she has a “new baby” in the works, conceived as a counter proposition to her maximalist tendencies. But for now, she’s got a milestone to fête, and she’s only just gotten started.
