Miu Miu certainly knows how to curate a room that’s bursting with inspiration. Such was the case on Thursday evening at Village East by Angelika, where a very special premiere was set to screen: the 31st instalment of Miu Miu Women’s Tales; a twice-a-year series where Mrs. Prada commissions a short work from an independent female filmmaker. There’s just one stipulation—that the subjects wear Miu Miu—but beyond that, the director has carte blanche to get creative.
Norwegian auteur Mona Fastvold was given the honours this time around. The Testament of Ann Lee director took the opportunity to tap the movie’s accomplished cast to create something entirely distinct for the series—even casting Vogue’s January digital cover star Amanda Seyfried to be her lead. On Thursday, the actress joined Fastvold and the likes of Chloë Sevigny, Lili Reinhart, Ella Hunt, and Maude Apatow to see it on the big screen.
Inside the cinema, a throng of guests clinked Champagne flutes. Miu Miu signatures could be spotted everywhere in the crowd: prim berets, oval opticals, and knit micro minis among them. The foyer hummed as friends greeted one another before slipping into their seats, popcorn and candy in hand. Then, the lights dimmed.
Fastvold’s film, Discipline, meditates on the ritualistic, sometimes destabilising passage of entering womanhood—and the in-between space where one’s identity begins to splinter and reform. Through gesture and movement rather than dialogue, Fastvold explores what it means to shed expectation and emerge anew, the result of which—well, you’ll have to see the film to find out. By the time the credits rolled, the room had erupted into thunderous applause.
“I found it really refreshing that all I had to respond to was movement, and the movement I found so emotional,” Louisa Jacobson told Vogue. “It was really pared down to storytelling through the body, and I really enjoyed that.”
After the screening, Women’s Tales alumna Hailey Gates and Celia Rowlson-Hall joined Fastvold for a panel conversation about the making of the film—from developing the “puppets” at its centre to shaping its musical landscape. “This series often is a chance for directors to explore something that they haven’t yet been able to,” Gates explained, to which Mona added: “It is a really lovely thing, and it is a really lovely community that Miu Miu’s building here, so I have to say thank you.”
From there, guests were transported to the ultra-posh Meatpacking district members-only club, Chez Margaux, where the night shifted into high gear. While any phone photos were off limits, indulging certainly was not. Plates of pumpkin ravioli and mini cheeseburgers made the rounds as guests curled into velvet banquettes, L’Americains in hand.
In one corner, Love Story co-stars Grace Gummer and Sarah Pidgeon compared notes on the film’s most transportive moments, while nearby, Derek Blasberg and Nina Dobrev swapped jokes. A few guests—Seyfried included—had even kicked off their shoes, totally relaxed. The mood was buoyant, a little undone, and entirely Miu Miu.
“Mona was the perfect choice for Miu Miu Tales,” Seyfried said, “because we’re all talking about fashion, but how does that connect to our humanity? How does that connect to how we live our lives? You have to create a story around it, and that’s really hard to do—so you have to get real storytellers who aren’t afraid to say things that might not make sense at first.”
On the topic of her own Miu Miu moment, Fastvold was effusive: “I’ve been so lucky to have a really long relationship with Miu Miu and Mrs. Prada. She’s always been so supportive, and I really love her thoughts and ideas about everything she does creatively. It’s an honour to be added on.”
Pidgeon summarised it best when she said, “I wish this happened more than twice a year. Being able to sit in a room full of powerful women—we need more of that!”
1 / 19
Nina Dobrev, Derek Blasberg, Amanda Seyfried
2 / 19
Beca Michie
3 / 19
Louisa Jacobson, Sarah Pidgeon
4 / 19
Paul Anthony Kelly, Grace Gummer
5 / 19
Mona Fastvold, Carolyn Murphy
6 / 19
Paloma Elsesser
7 / 19
Hailey Gates, Mona Fastvold, Celia Rowlson-Hall
8 / 19
Lola Tung
9 / 19
Benito Skinner, Enya Umanzor
10 / 19
Lili Reinhart
11 / 19
Kelsey Asbille
12 / 19
Margeaux Labat
13 / 19
Maude Apatow
14 / 19
Tony Ozkan, Yesly Dimate
15 / 19
Towa Bird, Myha'la Herrold, Benito Skinner
16 / 19
Ella Hunt
17 / 19
Hailey Gates, Mona Fastvold, Celia Rowlson-Hall
18 / 19
