One of the brands making Milan Fashion Week as iconic as it is, is Prada. Headed up by fashion’s favourite creative director duo Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, the brand has become an institution of the week’s proceedings, consistently delivering strong looks in varied collections.
Drawing a crowd in Milan today which included Storm Reid, Mia Regan and Kim Kardashian to name a few, Prada presented its AW22 collection to a pack-out audience, all sat on individual velvet armchairs. Coupled with the plush carpet-like catwalk and low-level lighting, the show felt as if we were in an anonymously cool cocktail bar somewhere in Milan, or in fact, anywhere.
With models emerging from a kaleidoscopic light tunnel before hitting the N shaped catwalk, Kaia Gerber led the way in a white tank top embossed with Prada’s metal triangle hardware logo, looking like the spitting image of mum Cindy. Whilst other brands often opt for a show stopping entrance, Prada stripped things back for this season, choosing the opening look to be all about the basics.
As the show progressed, we saw Prada’s signature proportion-playing make an appearance, with leather coats that stopped just above the knee, revealing a mesh panel in the midi skirt below. From there, the skirt continued and became opaque – demonstrating the brand’s elevated craftsmanship in revealing a flash of skin, but only a flash.
As ever, no one does tailoring like Prada. Suits were broad-shouldered, waistlines fitted, and seams sewn with a rigidity that screamed lux. A series of skirt suit sets added a dose of nostalgia to proceedings, before knit sweaters bearing vintage graphic patterns paired with rectangular sunglasses brought the collection back into present time. It was as if Prada looked through the archives, pulling looks and inspiration from whichever decade they so fancied.
Rounding out the collection was a legion of jackets, bearing playful fur cuffs. From long, yeti-like faux fur in baby pink, to a deep brown feather based cuff, here Prada effortlessly blended severe tailoring with high-spirited detail: something the brand has become increasingly good at over the years. As well as indicating Raf’s influence on the collection, the cuffs served to remind us that there can still be fun found in the serious, and that Prada can still liven up the most serious of workwear.
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