Many of you might have visited Rome, and, if you love history, you probably have great memories of your trip there and of wandering around the city centre admiring the striking contrasts between the ruins and the chaotic and busy streets surrounding them. Yet when Miuccia Prada claimed Miu Miu's Spring/Summer 09 collection was inspired by history and many spotted in the various outfits a Roman influence, I kept on thinking about Pompeii and Herculaneum rather than Rome. 
The connection between the collection and the two towns was sparked in my mind by the red colour, sometimes used for the shiny silky dresses or for the pinafores wrapped around matte sack-like dresses. The juxtaposition between the silky and the matte fabrics and the two colours instantly brought back memories of the most luxurious house in Pompeii, the House of the Vettii, famous for its frescoed panels in black, Pompeian red and yellow. 
The sack-like fabric reminded me of the colour of the ruins and the dust you find in the streets of many archaeological areas.
The mosaic prints also produced interesting effects on the dresses and the more I looked at them, the more I kept on thinking about the colourful glass paste wall mosaic depicting Neptune and Amphitrite that adorns the east wall of a house in Herculaneum. Delicate mosaic prints also appeared on shoes. 
There was one particular element in the collection that made me think about the Pompeii-Herculaneum connection: most dresses seemed to be covered in fraying holes, as if the wearer caused them while running away from some sort of natural catastrophe. The mosaics looked instead as if they had been vandalised by graffiti sprayed by disrespectful youngsters, a thing which is sadly very common in archaeological sites all over Italy. 
The graffiti, such as little red horns and tongues sprouting from the head and mouth of an unassuming young man, added a sort of punkish and irreverent touch to the collection. I think it would be beautiful to do a photo shoot of this collection in Pompeii/Herculaneum: models wearing the apron-like dresses would be striking posing around the “thermopolia”, the public establishments that served hot food and drinks. Their red dresses would create interesting contrasts with the ruins of the simple structures of these ancient "snack bars" and with the dusty red brick taps into which the dolia or jars containing the goods were sunk. 
Vetutius Placidus’ thermopolium in Pompeii would be perfect as it still preserves a reddish painting featuring also Mercurius (god of trade) and Dionysus (god of wine). Hope Mrs Prada will forgive me, but I would suggest to use the mosaic dresses for photo shoots around the Lupanare area, Pompeii's red light district. The graffiti on the dresses could even be replicated with some Photoshop action on the ancient house walls in the Pompeii streets to give the area a sort of modernly ancient and seedy charm.
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