The Kylie Jenner Miu Miu Campaign Is a Huge Bummer
Not only is it boring, it also exemplifies the bleak situation the fashion industry has found itself in.
On Friday afternoon, as I was scrolling my Instagram feed, a post stopped me to a halt: Kylie Jenner had just unveiled her new (and her first) Miu Miu campaign for Fall 2025, styled by Lotta Volkova and photographed by Lengua. Something about it wasn’t sitting right with me, so I did what any extremely online fashion enthusiast would do and posted the image to my Stories, with a caption underneath that read, “I didn’t see a Kylie Miu Miu campaign coming tbh.”
Over the next 24 hours, replies rolled in to affirm that I was not the only person confused and put off by this development. I opened my DMs to a deluge of “so random,” “huh,” “yawn,” and “hate it.” The overwhelming opinion about Kylie’s campaign among my followers was that it’s mid at best and desperate at worst.
The quick and easy take that’s dominated Reels and TikTok in the days since is that this casting is, of course, boring, and the inclusion of a mega influential celebrity like Kylie — who’s currently sitting at 393M followers on Instagram and 54.8M on TikTok — is a lazy, nonsensical play for engagement and virality. Others have lamented that Kylie, who wore custom Miu Miu to support her boyfriend Timotheé Chalamet at the Oscars, simply isn’t a “Miu Miu girl,” or the bookish, quirky, free-spirited type that has long represented Miuccia Prada’s sister label. Her photos are devoid of charm — a classic case of a brand and talent pairing feeling out of alignment.
What struck me, though, is how far the Kylie casting seems to stray from the Miu Miu brand ethos, which I’ve always seen as celebrating individuality, interiority, and independence. Until recently, the Italian label was never one to hop on the trend bandwagon; in fact, it would take more creative risks than most of its contemporaries, from the runway collections to the model castings, unafraid of being considered bizarre or “ugly chic.”
When Miu Miu comes to mind, I think about discovery and star making! Since its inception in 1993, it’s been a brand that prefers to cast people in their first campaign, rather than their fiftieth. It marked Drew Barrymore’s high fashion campaign debut (though she’d done some commercial work for Guess Jeans) in 1995, when she was just 20 years old. It did the same for Chloë Sevigny, making her the face of the Spring/Summer 1996 campaign when she was 22, following her breakout role in Larry Clark’s Kids.
The aughts and 2010s continued this streak: Lindsay Lohan's first big fashion campaign was for Miu Miu's Spring/Summer 2007 collection; Lindsey Wixson rose to modeling superstardom after a Prada and Miu Miu runway exclusive eventually landed her the campaign for the latter’s memorable Spring/Summer 2010 collection; Hailee Steinfeld made her Miu Miu campaign debut (albeit a controversial one) for Fall 2011 when she was just 14; and Elle Fanning, perhaps the quintessential Miu Miu girl, starred in her first ads for the house at 15 years old for Spring/Summer 2014. The brand is also known to surprise and delight with its runway lineups, often including indie talents on the brink of fame or with cult followings, like Ethel Cain, FKA twigs, Emma Corrin, and Cailee Spaeny.
Mrs. Prada and her team have marched to the playful beat of their own drum for decades, and there’s historically been a thoughtfulness to the brand’s choice of ambassadors. But times have undeniably changed, even among the industry elites. Miu Miu experienced a post-TikTok surge of viral success following the release of the micro miniskirt from its Spring/Summer 2022 collection — though it’s had its fair share of social media hits, like the blog-favorite shoes from the aforementioned Spring 2010 collection — and with this Kylie campaign, it appears they’re chasing that high.
With its zeitgeisty “lit girl” sensibilities (see its branded Women's Tales film series and Literary Club) and popularity among the young Hollywood and influencer set, Miu Miu’s cultural relevance is off the charts; Lyst named it the most popular brand in the world for both 2023 and 2024. Business is booming, too: 2024 was a record-breaking year for Miu Miu, with retail sales up a reported 93 percent, accounting for 25 percent of Prada Group’s earnings. Stats like these are a C-Suite’s dream, but they do come at a creative cost, especially for a house that’s known for being non-conventional. Authenticity can prove to be too big of a financial risk.
Miu Miu is a label that is steeped in youth culture, and Kylie, for many around the globe, is the moment. But when you try to be everything to everyone, as the Kardashians and Jenners largely have, you start to lose the plot and muddle your message. When your face of the season is shilling for a different brand every week — including several brands of her own across product categories — the partnership feels blatantly transactional, a simple exchange of fashion cred and clout for access to a massive following.
Kylie is not the only star of the Fall 2025 campaign — there’s a full cast that includes “Industry” fan favorite Myha’la and rapper Cortisa Star — but the others are not drumming up conversation as they’re completely overshadowed by such a big name. If the most popular brand on Earth can’t escape casting a Jenner or Kardashian to help it achieve its ever-growing visibility goals, what chance does the rest of the industry have? Will every house be forced to cast the same dozen people over and over until they go out of business?
I used to think a Kim Kardashian Prada campaign was too far-fetched to ever happen, but I’ll put it on the record that I’ve changed my mind.
A bummer indeed - like an F-U to the reason Miu Miu has been resonating
The thing is I think Kylie/the Kardashians were a moment but it’s not this moment. She needs Miu Miu for relevance way more than they need her at this point which is what makes the decision so baffling to me.