Latest news with #Macuga
The Star
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
How Miuccia Prada's Miu Miu films tell stories of women through a fashion lens
Since 2011, Miuccia Prada, the patron saint of smart, messy women everywhere, has been using her Miu Miu line as a platform to commission short films by female filmmakers from around the world, including Janicza Bravo, Mati Diop and Haifaa Al-Mansour. For Miuccia, the films, which sometimes air during her fashion shows, serve as a backdrop to her clothes, which have always explored the chaotic lives of mothers, sisters, rebels, poets and punks without ever trying to reconcile their contradictions. That has made Miu Miu the darling of the fashion industry (Miuccia is also head designer of the Prada label), the rare fashion brand to experience explosive growth at a time when sales in general are slowing. Last year, during Art Basel Paris, Miuccia decided it was time to bring all the films together, and she enlisted Polish artist Goshka Macuga to help. The result was an immersive performance piece of sorts that involved a cast of 35 characters from the films, brought to life by 105 actors. It was such an unexpected hit, with 11,000 people visiting the Paris show during its five-day run, that she and Macuga decided to re-create it recently or Frieze New York. The new show, titled Tales & Tellers , is being staged in the Terminal Warehouse, the cavernous late-19th-century building on the Far West Side of Manhattan, latterly home to the Tunnel nightclub. And it is an altogether darker take on the state of women than the Paris event was (still, wardrobe by Miu Miu). Here, Miuccia and Macuga talk about the endeavour in a Zoom interview. The conversation has been edited and condensed. There hasn't been a Miu Miu show in New York in decades, but now there is. Sort of. Why this? Miuccia: The clothes are an excuse to have the support of the company to create these projects where women are talking about themselves, which is very important. In my work, I have always embraced the complexity of women, the complexity of our lives, how we can succeed in developing our abilities. So it's fundamental to know what women do, what they think, in different contexts. Macuga: All these different stories represent different social problems for women in different countries. Like, for example, the film which I feel very close to, Nightwalk by Małgorzata Szumowska, was filmed in Poland at a time when gender issues were really repressed by our government. It was talking about this idea of liberation within a context that was not sympathetic to difference. Read more: Are films indeed turning into a profitable side business for fashion companies? That sounds like the current state of the US. Is that why you wanted to bring the show here? Miuccia: Not just America. Conservatism is everywhere in Europe. We are facing these really great problems, and this moment is really scary. So it's a very crucial argument – that everybody has the right to their voice. Macuga: We are taking it to the American, or New York, street at night and trying to imagine how a woman exists within this context. It's more threatening, it's more surreal. We're looking at the concept of inside and outside, the idea of individuals coming together in a group and being empowered. How all these individual voices can come together and make a big impact. Is this also the way you raise your voice? Miuccia: It's hard for me to talk about politics because I am a representative of luxury. That's a very privileged group of people, so to translate that in a real democratic way is not obvious. So I try in my own way to be political, but I have to be very careful how I make it public. Macuga: Artists can use language that allows certain narratives to still be present, but maybe present under the umbrella of a more coded language. You're not directly addressing anything or making a statement, but you're creating the possibility for people to project certain ideas into it. Miuccia: What I hope is that people who come to the show feel they can express themselves – their ideas, their problems, their weakness, their struggle. We are basically saying that change or building relationships or empowerment happens on a human level, in the instantaneous relationships that we make with other people. Why is that important now? Macuga: Clearly we cannot take for granted certain positive things that happen for women in society. Governments change, politics change, and the situation of women changes with that. Miuccia: Women's liberation is not concluded at all. Sometimes, it looks like we are going backward. There is still a lot of work to do. Is that what you are trying to convey with clothes? Miuccia: I try to make my contribution with the instrument I have. When you make clothes, you are suggesting possible ways of being. I am fixated on the word 'useful'. I want to try to be useful. Basically, I have the Prada Foundation, our museum. I have the fashion lines. And this is something in between that seems the most promising because it is simple. There's more excitement, less pressure, attached to it. Read more: Elegance with edge: The quiet power of Miuccia Prada's life in fashion What do you mean? Miuccia: First, when we made these little movies, no one cared one bit. We showed them at the Venice Film Festival, in a very serious environment. Then I wanted to do an exhibit at the Prada Foundation about feminism, but while curators are used to curating objects and art, there are no curators for ideas, so it's very difficult. But adding the fashion environment attracts many more people and allows this idea to become much more popular, much more diffused. Suddenly, with this, everybody immediately understood. It somehow accelerated the process, and we wanted to push that. This is one of the miracles of fashion. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Observer
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Miu Miu Brings a Show to New York, and Everyone Can Go
Since 2011, Miuccia Prada, the patron saint of smart, messy women everywhere, has been using her Miu Miu line as a platform to commission short films by female filmmakers from around the world, including Janicza Bravo, Mati Diop and Haifaa al-Mansour. For Prada, the films, which sometimes air during her fashion shows, serve as a backdrop to her clothes, which have always explored the chaotic lives of mothers, sisters, rebels, poets and punks without ever trying to reconcile their contradictions. That has made Miu Miu the darling of the fashion industry, the rare fashion brand to experience explosive growth at a time when sales in general are slowing. Last year, during Art Basel Paris, Prada decided it was time to bring all the films together, and she enlisted Polish artist Goshka Macuga to help. The result was an immersive performance piece of sorts that involved a cast of 35 characters from the films, brought to life by 105 actors. It was such an unexpected hit, with 11,000 people visiting the Paris show during its five-day run, that she and Macuga decided to re-create it this weekend for Frieze New York. The new show, titled 'Tales & Tellers,' is being staged in the Terminal Warehouse, the cavernous late-19th-century building on the Far West Side of Manhattan, latterly home to the Tunnel nightclub. And it is an altogether darker take on the state of women than the Paris event was. (Still, wardrobe by Miu Miu.) Prada and Macuga Zoomed in to explain. The conversation has been edited and condensed. Q: There hasn't been a Miu Miu show in New York in decades, but now there is. Sort of. Why this? MIUCCIA PRADA: The clothes are an excuse to have the support of the company to create these projects where women are talking about themselves, which is very important. In my work, I have always embraced the complexity of women, the complexity of our lives, how we can succeed in developing our abilities. So it's fundamental to know what women do, what they think, in different contexts. GOSHKA MACUGA: All these different stories represent different social problems for women in different countries. Like, for example, the film which I feel very close to, 'Nightwalk' by Małgorzata Szumowska, was filmed in Poland at a time when gender issues were really repressed by our government. It was talking about this idea of liberation within a context that was not sympathetic to difference. Q: That sounds like the current state of America. Is that why you wanted to bring the show here? PRADA: Not just America. Conservatism is everywhere in Europe. We are facing these really great problems, and this moment is really scary. So it's a very crucial argument — that everybody has the right to their voice. MACUGA: We are taking it to the American, or New York, street at night and trying to imagine how a woman exists within this context. It's more threatening, it's more surreal. We're looking at the concept of inside and outside, the idea of individuals coming together in a group and being empowered. How all these individual voices can come together and make a big impact. Q: Is this also the way you raise your voice? PRADA: It's hard for me to talk about politics because I am a representative of luxury. That's a very privileged group of people, so to translate that in a real democratic way is not obvious. So I try in my own way to be political, but I have to be very careful how I make it public. MACUGA: Artists can use language that allows certain narratives to still be present, but maybe present under the umbrella of a more coded language. You're not directly addressing anything or making a statement, but you're creating the possibility for people to project certain ideas into it. PRADA: What I hope is that people who come to the show feel they can express themselves — their ideas, their problems, their weakness, their struggle. We are basically saying that change or building relationships or empowerment happens on a human level, in the instantaneous relationships that we make with other people. Q: Why is that important now? MACUGA: Clearly we cannot take for granted certain positive things that happen for women in society. Governments change, politics change, and the situation of women changes with that. PRADA: Women's liberation is not concluded at all. Sometimes, it looks like we are going backward. There is still a lot of work to do. Q: Is that what you are trying to convey with clothes? PRADA: I try to make my contribution with the instrument I have. When you make clothes, you are suggesting possible ways of being. I am fixated on the word 'useful.' I want to try to be useful. Basically, I have the Prada Foundation, our museum. I have the fashion lines. And this is something in between that seems the most promising because it is simple. There's more excitement, less pressure, attached to it. Q: What do you mean? PRADA: First, when we made these little movies, no one cared one bit. We showed them at the Venice Film Festival, in a very serious environment. Then I wanted to do an exhibit at the Prada Foundation about feminism, but while curators are used to curating objects and art, there are no curators for ideas, so it's very difficult. But adding the fashion environment attracts many more people and allows this idea to become much more popular, much more diffused. Suddenly, with this, everybody immediately understood. It somehow accelerated the process, and we wanted to push that. This is one of the miracles of fashion.
Forbes
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Lauren Macuga Is On A Mission To Get More U.S. Girls Into Speed Skiing
USA's Lauren Macuga skis during the women's downhill training at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Sun ... More Valley Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho on March 21, 2025. In her first-ever World Cup giant slalom race, 22-year-old Lauren Macuga showed off her rapidly improving technical skills—on one of skiing's biggest stages. The speedster spent the majority of this past offseason training to hone her overall skill set, with the goal of earning her first giant slalom start. Her 15th-place finish on Tuesday at the Sun Valley World Cup finals was high enough to earn her FIS points. It was a soft launch, if you will, of this discipline for the multifaceted skier. 'Now I can't wait for when I really want to tackle the GS World Cup,' Macuga said Tuesday. 'Like when I'm so set in the speed that I can go tackle that; I can't wait for it.' Ultimately, however, the speed disciplines—Super-G particularly—are what fill Macuga's cup. 'One run and go and it's done—that's fantastic, so I still love that,' she said. Saturday's World Cup finals downhill race was called off due to windy conditions, and Macuga took a DNF in Sunday's Super-G—another career first. But it was only because the Park City resident was pushing her limits, no doubt fired up racing alongside her longtime idol, Lindsey Vonn, who returned to ski racing this season five years after retiring. Vonn took second in Super-G on Sunday, emphatically demonstrating that, at 40, she still belongs at the highest levels of ski racing. It's been a breakout season for Macuga, who earned her first World Cup win in mid-Janguary, in Super-G in St. Anton, Austria. She then went on to take bronze in her first world championships. Ultimately, Macuga finished fourth in the standings in downhill and sixth in Super-G this season. Between Vonn, a living legend; 29-year-old Breezy Johnson, who took gold in the downhill at February's alpine skiing world championships; and rising star Macuga, there's a lot to love in the speed department on the U.S. Ski Team. But there's no question the U.S. women are currently technical specialists. In Tuesday's giant slalom, five of the 30 women on the start list were American. 'We need to get girls back in speed,' Macuga said. 'Yeah, it is scary; don't get me wrong, I cried before my first downhill in Sugarloaf, but now here I am overcoming that and having fun doing it. 'There are so many kids here [in Sun Valley]; I hope they see it and say, 'I want to do that, this looks fun.'' Between now and the Park City Olympics in 2034, where Macuga will be 31 and, she hopes, 'in her prime,' she hopes to see more homegrown downhill and Super-G talent develop in the U.S. And marquee events like the World Cup finals being held on U.S. soil are instrumental in creating that kind of growth. Lauren may not be the only Macuga going for Olympic gold when the Games arrive in her town. Siblings Sam and Alli are on the U.S. ski jumping and moguls national teams, respectively. Younger brother Daniel is a fellow alpine skier. What created this family of athletic prodigies? Good genes? A competitive mindset? Ultimately, the Macugas just find sliding around the snow really fun. And most of all, that's what Lauren hopes to impress upon the next generation. 'Growing up, that's all our mom said; 'If you're having fun, you can go do anything,'' Macuga said. 'But I think she really ingrained in us that we should enjoy it, and I think that's what gotten all of us where we are. '
USA Today
25-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lauren Macuga is skiing fast and having a blast doing it
Lauren Macuga is skiing fast and having a blast doing it Show Caption Hide Caption Kirsty Coventry becomes first woman elected president of the IOC Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe became the first woman and first person from Africa to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee. SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Used to be, Lauren Macuga was best known for her collection of bucket hats and colorful shirts with American flags all over them. Now it's her skiing that's getting all the buzz. Macuga went from an up-and-comer to a legitimate medal contender at next year's Milan-Cortina Olympics this season. And it happened almost as fast as she skis. She raised eyebrows in December by winning two super-Gs in a lower-tier event at Copper Mountain, finishing ahead of eventual overall champion Federica Brignone. A month later, Macuga got her first World Cup victory, in the super-G at St. Anton, Austria. She medaled in her very first world championships, winning the bronze in super-G. And earlier this month, she was second in a World Cup downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway. With one race left at the World Cup finals, the 22-year-old is the top U.S. woman in the overall standings. 'It's just been chaos. But it's been fantastic,' Macuga said Tuesday after finishing 15th, good enough to earn her points, in her first-ever World Cup giant slalom race. 'I couldn't have asked for a better season. I mean my team, the support and just, it's literally just been so fun.' Fun is the operative word in the Macuga family. Dan and Amy Macuga (pronounced muh-SUE-gah) moved their family to Park City, Utah, when their kids were small. Name a snow sport, and it can be done in Park City because of the facilities left over from the 2002 Olympics, and the Macuga kids tried most of them. Lauren and her brother Daniel gravitated to ski racing. Younger sister Alli took to moguls. Older sister Sam loved the thrill of ski jumping. Mind you, this was meant to just be a fun thing, a way for the kids to stay active. Not produce future Olympic hopefuls. And yet, that's where they are, with Lauren, Alli and Sam all on their respective national teams and Daniel racing on one of the lower circuits. 'I don't know how we got here,' Amy Macuga said. 'It just all suddenly happened. It's pretty surreal.' Or chaos, as Lauren Macuga happily describes it. (Sam even carried a sign with 'Chaos Cougs' on Tuesday.) Amy Macuga uses a spreadsheet to keep her kids' schedules straight, as well as another to track who is taking care of the family pets while they crisscross the globe. The siblings make frequent use of the location functions on their phones to keep tabs on where the others are. And sometimes there's a little intervention by the travel gods. Earlier this season, Sam was in the Munich airport when someone came up behind her at baggage claim. Turns out, Lauren was flying through Munich, too, and had spotted her sister. 'She scared me so bad! I was like, `I'm hallucinating. Lauren, what are you doing here?'' Sam said, laughing at the memory. 'It was so funny. We sent a selfie to our family.' With the exception of Daniel, the whole family was in Sun Valley over the weekend. Though the downhill race Saturday was canceled and Lauren had her first-ever 'did not finish' in the super-G, it didn't put a damper on what has been a breakout season for the burgeoning star. Macuga was in the top five in seven of her 19 races, and in the top 10 in another three. Though she wound up fourth in the team combined at the world championships, she had the fastest downhill run in the event. Macuga finished the season fourth in the downhill standings, and sixth in super-G. 'My expectations for the season were high, but I definitely surpassed them. Which has been so exciting,' she said before the World Cup finals began. 'My super-G expectations were definitely high and my downhill, I was hoping it was as good last year and now it's just as good as my super-G. It's really cool to … say, `If I can put my best skiing down, it can be a really good run.'' Her success, along with her bubbly personality and made-for-NBC family story, will put Macuga squarely in the spotlight ahead of next year's Olympics. While that kind of attention can be daunting, Macuga is made for it. Even before she was challenging for podiums, Macuga stood out from other skiers with her goofy hats. It started four years ago, she said, when she spotted a cute bucket hat with mushrooms on it and wore it in the finish area. It quickly became her signature and, in a sport where athletes can be anonymous once they take off their helmets, has helped make Macuga a fan favorite. Keep skiing like this, and she could pick up some new, shinier accessories at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. '(This season gave me) a lot of confidence and it's so cool. But it's also crazy to be like, no, I still have to work hard through the summer,' Macuga said. 'Yeah, I'm sitting very well right now, but it's all up to next year and you can't just sit around and do nothing. 'It actually gets me more excited to work harder to try to get even better for the Olympics.' Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
New York Times
13-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
American Paula Moltzan hits new career high with giant slalom bronze at worlds
Paula Moltzan stretched across the finish line, looked at the board and dropped her jaw at what she saw. By the slimmest of margins, the American who has an Olympic appearance and competed across 12 World Cup seasons had secured the biggest result of her career — a world championship individual medal. Advertisement The 30-year-old Moltzan edged Norway's Thea Louise Stjernesund by 0.01 seconds on Thursday for the bronze medal in giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships in Saalbach, Austria. It was a career highlight for the top two finishers as well. Italian star Federica Brignone ran away with her first career individual gold medal at the world championships, topping both runs and finishing in 2:22.71. That was 0.90 ahead of New Zealand's Alice Robinson, who cruised to silver, 1.72 better than Moltzan. The 23-year-old won her first career medal at worlds — and her country's first ever in Alpine skiing. Brignone — at 34, the oldest woman to win a world title — leads the overall World Cup standings thanks to her all-around skills. She tops the downhill ranks and is second in super-G and third in giant slalom, with wins in all three disciplines this season. She took silver in the super-G earlier this week but missed the podium in the downhill, finishing 10th. Robinson, the top giant slalom skier on the World Cup tour this season, has four World Cup wins in her career, including last month in Kronplatz, Italy. For Moltzan, the high comes two days after a disappointing end Tuesday in the women's team combined, which pairs two skiers and features a downhill leg and a slalom leg. Moltzan teamed with rising American speed skier Lauren Macuga. The 22-year-old Macuga posted the fastest downhill time to set the U.S. duo up for a medal chance. But Moltzan struggled in the slalom, finishing 15th and dropping her and Macuga off the podium. U.S. teammates Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson won the gold. Competing in her fifth world championships, it's Moltzan's second medal but first individual. She also won gold with the Americans in the team parallel event in 2023. A 2022 Olympian, Moltzan has made four World Cup podiums in her 12 seasons on tour, including a giant slalom bronze in the Kronplatz race last month. She's in the midst of one of her best overall seasons, currently 15th in the World Cup standings. (Photo of Paul Moltzan celebrating Thursday's run: Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP via Getty Images)
