Miu Miu May Be One of the Hottest Brands Right Now, But These 5 Bags Are Forever Investments

With a surname redolent of everything that luxury craftspersonship stands for, it should come as no surprise that Miuccia Prada, the famed 78-year-old fashion designer at the helm of two of Italy’s most elegant brands, Prada and Miu Miu, is well versed in the making of covetable accessories.

In fact, one would expect this from the well-heeled Sciura, an affectionate term for the refined and sophisticatedly dressed women who call Milan home, given it was her grandfather, Mario Prada, who founded the family-owned and operated business in 1913 with a series of handmade leather goods. Over a century later, Mrs Prada remains a tastemaker and trendsetter in her own right, with the best Miu Miu bags often spotted tucked into the crook of an elbow or languidly slouching from the wrists of It girls the world over.

For the uninitiated, or perhaps those who have remained immune to the intensity with which Miu Miu has been received over the past few years, the label is often regarded as the spritely younger sister of Prada. “Naïve and immediate”, which is how Mrs Prada herself describes the brand, Miu Miu’s design language is one of spontaneity and girlhood.

The most iconic handbag silhouettes are a flirtation of impulse and utility, enabling the wearer, who ranges from nascent creative types to established stars, with arm candy that is both artisanal and playful. You only need to look at the runways for proof. At Miu Miu’s storied Paris Fashion Week closing collection presentation (the brand always shows on the final day of the calendar), celebrities including Gigi Hadid and Alexa Chung brandished bags brimming with a change of heels, or embellished with rope accessory charms, infusing these pieces with a sense of lived-in wearability.

This is something I learned firsthand upon a recent visit to The Space in Florence, a “secret” outlet selling highly discounted past-season pieces. In a small town on a Tuscan hillside, I watched as locals and tourists alike stockpiled Miu Miu bags like there was no tomorrow. The most popular styles? The quilted-effect and crescent-shaped Wander bag, the sweetly boxy Arcadie and the elegant, bumbag-esque Pocket, to name a few.

So, if you’re going to invest in one of the best Miu Miu bags, I’d heed these insights and start there—with an in-demand and top-selling style. I can’t help but think this is what Miuccia would want too, with her bags’ instant recognisability and covetable status an ode to the ethos that began all the way back in the brand’s debut autumn/winter 1993 collection: rebellious, effervescent and always of the now.