Miuccia Prada can turn even the coolest fashion kid into a total nerd (inhalers and all). The Italian matriarch oversees the sprawling Prada res publica, now in tandem with Raf Simons since his appointment as co-pilot in 2020, and over the years, has become the undisputed 'designer's designer'; the sort that other talents openly refer to as an "inspiration" without their own ego getting in the way. This empire encompasses the namesake family label alongside several offshoots, including Miu Miu.

Where Prada takes its coffee and clothing and comedy black, Miu Miu is coquettish, and, refreshingly, a bit silly, and probably doesn't do all that much except go on holiday. But despite being launched as a more playful alternative in 1993, it is this very label, not Prada, that has the front row turning a certain blotchy shade of McLovin'. Something big happened: Miu Miu men joined the Miu Miu women at yesterday's show.

miu miu men
Victor Virgile

Cool. A womenswear label sees a few more dollar signs on a Y chromosome. The world will keep on turning. But it's not quite so straightforward, not for die-hard fashionheads at least. Because the Miu Miu man is not a new invention. For a short period between 1999 to 2008, the Miu Miu man was the man – on runways, in campaigns, and most importantly, on the backs of actual men. Ms Prada made Miu Miu clothes that catered to a younger, cooler, wilder sort of guy. The blazers were schoolboyish but polished, dog leads became chain belts, hiking boots clomped along way before the gorpcore advent. Flared trousers sat below baseball caps. Socks went with sandals. Things were good.

If all of that sounds decidedly wavy and 2020s, that's because it was. And perhaps too ahead of its time. After less than a decade, Prada shuttered Miu Miu men. WWD reported that the parent company wanted more womenswear, which had doubled its profits, just as the menswear side was reportedly losing the room. At Miu Miu men's final outing, fashion critic Tim Blanks noted a presentation "that was as intimate as a Tupperware party" on the now defunct Style.com.

But despite all of this, Miu Miu men left behind a legacy, and a Prada-shaped hole for its fanboys. "Over the years, I definitely missed it," says Max Berlinger, a fashion writer that has been known to tweet about the glory days of Miu Miu men. "Prada can be so heavy with meaning and Miu Miu felt a bit more offhanded, had a bit more of an aloof attitude."

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Its value as a collectors' piece can be explained by Prada's unrivalled knack for just making exemplary clothing, too. "I always love Prada when it's simple and just a little off, and the best of Miu Miu was just that," says Berlinger. "It had a sleek silhouette, but tech-y fabrications that made it feel slightly futuristic. It had Helmut Lang vibes, like it was from a not-so-distant future that was similar to ours, but more advanced and maybe, just slightly, more dystopian. It had a very 'Uncanny Valley' feel to it."

Berlinger also points to fashion's great democratisation, and our need to get beyond this as a reason for the fanboy longing. As an industry that runs on the fumes of exclusivity, Miu Miu men is one of the very few lines that flourished in the pre-internet age. It's incredibly difficult to find archival imagery, let alone actual pieces. What's more, it's a relic from a brand that's still standing; we all know and love and can buy Miu Miu today. Miu Miu men is the part of the store that's been cordoned off. Thus, we want it, and fashion's armchair pundits so like to refer to the little-known chapters of well-known labels.

miu miu men
Paco Serinelli
A prior Miu Miu men show in 2005

The famine officially ended at yesterday's Paris show. Though womenswear comprised the main body of the collection, the smattering of menswear was boxy, relaxed and slightly boyish. Knitted polo shirts billowed away from the body with enlarged collars and Miu Miu brandplates. Teeny tiny summer shorts got teenier and tinier. V-neck sweaters came in boyband-adjacent argyles below leather jackets. It all felt incredibly noughties, from a time when famous men went wide and cropped and famous women paraded their hipbones.

And perhaps that's the point. As attendees reclined in deck chairs decorated with cartoon characters, the return of Miu Miu men felt like a carbon copy of the first iteration. It hasn't changed all that much – nor has the fanfare. Hours before the first models trotted out, Twitter was awash with rumours that Miu Miu men was 'back'. Everyone was positively giddy. They had every reason to be too as the 2008 redux arrived. This was no Tupperware party, either. It was Miu Miu men, the sort that people have yearned for and tweeted about and trawled Vestiare Collective for to no avail. It's a smart move on Ms Prada's part. In the age of fashion's great democratisation, you give the people what they want – and the people want to nerd out.