What do you get when you stitch 1930s lingerie to a striped tee, throw in Willem Dafoe, a ghostly camera, and a château full of longing? A very Miu Miu take on upcycling—one that’s equal parts fashion fantasy and sustainability statement.
Miu Miu has just dropped its most glamorous reinvention yet: Miu Miu Upcycled by Catherine Martin. Yes, that Catherine Martin—queen of costume design, four-time Oscar winner, and now, ghost-story storyteller with a directorial debut short film titled Grande Envie. The project proves what we already suspected: upcycled doesn’t mean up-tight.
Since 2020, Miu Miu Upcycled has taken pre-loved vintage gems and turned them into runway-ready pieces—because what’s more luxurious than breathing new life into a garment that’s already lived a little? Martin dives into this ethos with gusto, raiding the annals of history and pulling together a collection that’s all clash, contrast, and couture chaos—in the best possible way.
Picture this: lingerie meets denim, rowing blazers flirt with bias-cut tees-turned-gowns, and vintage scarves reemerge as halter tops made for sun-drenched scandal. “It’s utilitarian meets precious,” Martin says, “pretty colliding with the vulgar”—and we’re totally here for it.
The film? A stylish séance. Grande Envie takes place in a lavish South of France estate where a camera becomes a portal, and Daisy Ridley haunts her former husband (Dafoe, brooding beautifully) while three luminous strangers stir things up. It’s part ghost story, part fashion fever dream—with a nod to the seaside hedonism of vintage Lartigue photography and a full wardrobe of history-meets-happenstance.
Martin’s obsession with reviving the past is stitched into every hem. “Upcycling is storytelling,” she explains. “You take a garment with history, and instead of discarding it, you rewrite its future.”
And of course, none of this would land without the equally dreamy campaign imagery by Michella Bredahl. Her lens captures sun-drenched ennui and bedroom-haunting elegance as models wander the château like beautiful spirits caught between eras.
So, if you’ve ever wanted to wear your grandmother’s slip with a sailor blazer and call it sustainable luxury—this one’s for you. Because at Miu Miu, the clothes don’t just have past lives. They’ve got futures. And maybe, just maybe, they’ve got a ghost or two.
