There’s no shortage of blowout parties at the Venice Film Festival, during which the film world descends on the city to celebrate premieres from some of the world’s greatest directors. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no shortage of fashion parties, either. But there are few fashion houses that bridge the gap between those two worlds more naturally than Miu Miu: not only is it a particular favorite for multiple generations of young actresses, it has also, for nearly 15 years now, actively supported new films from women directors via its Miu Miu Women’s Tales program. (The latest chapter in the series, directed by the French filmmaker Alice Diop, premiered at the festival just yesterday.)
So it’s little surprise that Miu Miu’s party on Saturday night was one of the hottest tickets in town. Held at the Fondazione Prada, the event began with a stream of water taxis pulling up to the jetty, followed by guests making their way through the exhibition halls to take in the contemporary art foundation’s latest exhibition, Diagrams. The show, which debuted in May to coincide with the opening week of this year’s Architecture Biennale, seemed perfectly engineered to serve as a conversation starter for the evening ahead: featuring hundreds of rare documents, it explores how diagrams have been used across the centuries for humans to make sense of the world, spanning subjects from war to health, to the environment. (Just the small stuff, then.)
Chatter about the exhibition—and, of course, the various films premiering in Venice this week—could be heard from the third floor of the 18th-century palazzo, where waiters began to circulate with negronis and Champagne, as well as playful canapés of anchovies and butter on toast and miniature cucumber sandwiches served on antique silver platters. The stars arrived in their droves: Amanda Seyfried with Mona Fastvold, the director of her new film The Testament of Ann Lee, in a retro floral halter neck dress. Emma Corrin and Alexa Chung, both wearing the statement bullet bras from the brand’s fall 2025 collection, caught up over plates of freshly sliced mozzarella and ricotta-stuffed courgette flowers. Willem Dafoe and Mrs. Prada were deep in conversation at a table by the window, their companions admiring the 19th-century linen napkins embroidered with the initials of their original owner. The most unexpected sighting, however? Dwayne Johnson, who was in town to promote the new Benny Safdie film The Smashing Machine, and posed for photos alongside his co-star and good friend Emily Blunt. (Is the Rock a Miu Miu girl now?)
The tables were heaving with food everyone could help themselves from—loaded up on Meissen china that belongs to Mrs. Prada herself, which, like the silver platters and napkins, had been ferried over from her home in Milan—and the convivial atmosphere felt a little like being over at the Prada family pad for dinner. You know you’re throwing a good party, after all, when even the actors with premieres the next day are still hanging around at the stroke of midnight.