Is It a Loafer or a Mary Jane? Neither — It's a Miu Miu
Not only did Miu Miu's recent contributions to footwear effectively reshape that industry but there really isn't anything it can't knock outta the park. Winter hats? Only Miu Miu can make them compelling. Ski goggles? Yeah, Miu Miu makes them better.
And then we come back to shoes. And, once again, Miu Miu cannot be touched.
How many loafers exist in the luxury biz? Out in the world? How many are actually good? How about Mary Janes?
Miu Miu long ago mastered both. But, now, it does them one better.
The humbly named "Leather Loafers With Strap" are Miu Miu bridging the gap, quite literally strapping a, er, strap to the top of a loafer. Proportions are shifted to pull it off — whereas a conventional loafer's vamp ends a little before the ankle, the Miu Miu Mary Jane loafer ceases around the forefoot — and the end result is so seamless that it hardly looks new at all.
It is new, of course, but part of Miu Miu's power lies in how the luxury label makes newness feel lived-in and comfortable.
Miu Miu gives dorky staples like shrunken polo shirts and thin-rimmed glasses a knowing twist that has them land saucy, recognizable as formerly "uncool" objects but now so cool that they can't be acknowledged as anything but.
Miu Miu's Mary Jane loafer, like its world-conquering boat shoe, isn't as advanced as its reclamations of youthful stigmas. These are simply, plainly, cool shoes. But they're made better by a similar kind of gentle skew. To fully appreciate what makes Miu Miu great, you must only look that much closer.
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