Miu Miu Cat Coat: The Ones That Got Away

Every now and then, there’s a specific fashion item I lust for, that for whatever reason, I don’t give into. Maybe it’s the price. Maybe it’s the fact that I already bought too much stuff to fit into my suitcase. Or maybe it’s just because I didn’t realize how special the piece was, until I couldn’t stop thinking about it days, months, or even years later. These are the stories of these pieces that got away.

I remember the very first time I saw the Miu Miu cat coats. The year was 2013, and in typical fashion, Miu Miu was ending Paris Fashion Week. Fresh off the runway for the Spring 2014 collection, Miuccia Prada drafted up an idea from her deepest imagination and created a series of coats that live forever in my mind. At the time the coat came out, I was still in college and the coat was firmly out of my budget.

Fast forward almost 8 years and I’ve since amassed the cat boots from the collection (though not in my size, but at $150 at the outlet…. I had to) plus several chokers, and cat bags, from the collection. I still hold out hope that I’ll one day find a Miu Miu cat coat from the Spring 2014 in my size and not at an outrageous price.

Let’s get into the details: there are actually several cat coats from the Spring 2014 Miu Miu show. On the runway, there was an amazing pink wool version with a repeat print of the black cat all over it. There was also a pale pink leather coat with the cat and another brown one with the same cat rendered in suede. I’d honestly love any of them.

The lovely black cat motif and other whimsical designs seen on the coats (and other clothing) was actually designed by a quirky French illustrator: “Jeanne Detallante is a young French artist who explores the fantasy archetypes of fairytales, myths and fashion through her illustration work.”

Obviously, Miu Miu still does the cat motif, but nothing will ever quite be like the magical one from Spring 2014.