Today, we hit up the Fondazione Prada’s Deposito in Milan for Prada’s FW25 Women’s collection, along with Hunter Schafer, Charli D’Amelio, and Maya Hawke, to meet Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ idea of “femininity.” What we found on the runway was a woman who was scruffy, mismatched, awkward, and unbelievably glamourous. As Miuccia Prada said herself following the show, “For me, glamour is not a sexy dress, it’s the opposite. It’s an interior point of view.”
When Miuccia and Raf opened their show notes with the line “What does femininity mean today?” - we already knew that their FW25 Women’s collection would break several moulds. Neither designer has ever been good at following stereotypes, so exploring the idea of femininity in their show could only mean one thing: we were about to discover a whole new version of it - a personalised, Prada take.
Famed for her unique style that critics have endearingly hailed as “ugly chic” since the ‘90s, Miuccia Prada’s well known for her ability to make the unconventional look glamorous and desirable. Her designs play with bold, clashing patterns, unforgiving silhouettes, and unusual texture combinations, and yet they still deliver on opulence. Likewise, Raf Simons has never been one to present femininity in a way we expect; his love of tailoring, on men and women, empowers his designs, and their wearers too.
So, what does “femininity” mean to Miuccia and Raf? It’s far from the slim, sleek silhouettes and sensual fabrics we’re used to seeing. What Prada’s FW25 show brought to the runway was feminine, but it was also raw and realistic. Proportions were unusual, described as being altered to “adjust the behaviour of clothes and the rapport between body and dress,” and pieces were adapted, styled in unique ways and given a new meaning.
Of course, glamour was as always a present feature, as seen in the jewels on accessories, the thick faux fur on jackets, and the attention to detail in the entire collection. Against the realism of Miuccia and Raf’s designs and the scaffolding filling the show space, this glint of glamour screamed even louder by comparison. Prada’s idea of femininity might’ve had scruffy, unbrushed hair, scuffed boots, and thick faux fur jackets, but she never forgot to accessorise.
Last month, at the Prada Men’s show, the opening look featured a simple, brown knit shirt with a silver pendant swinging at the model’s chest. Not only was this look recreated at Prada’s Women’s show today in figure-hugging, more feminine iterations, but it also translated into even more pendants, charms, and badges appearing on plenty of looks. The girls love a trinket, and Miuccia and Raf delivered.
Bows also finally appeared on Prada’s runway this season, as seen on the front of dresses and skirts alike, perhaps as a nod to more stereotypically “feminine” styles of fashion. But Prada doesn’t do stereotypes, so at the same time it was following this norm, it was breaking another, with bulging, awkward silhouettes and crumpled, unironed shirts.
Fur (faux, of course) already dominated at Prada’s FW25 Men’s show back in January, primarily seen on the collars of jackets, and it was back today in the house’s women’s collection too. In particular, a shearling coat stood out for its luxurious texture, as did the thick brown fur jackets a few models wore.
A standout piece that we suspect might have been loosely based on a similar piece Prada’s more typically feminine sibling is famed for, was a raw-hemmed, Miu Miu-esque mini skirt (remember the iconic cut-off, pleated skirt Miu Miu went viral for?), only with a Prada twist. Instead of the fitted, low-rise style, Prada’s version was creased and folded.
Miuccia Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic, a term founded to describe her unique look in the ‘90s, was evident on the runway this season in the radioactive pink of a wide, floral dress, and an eye-wateringly bright yellow jacket adorned with brown fur trim were a couple of our favourite “ugly chic” pieces this season.
And similarly, a series of looks that stood out in the collection were simple grey and brown jacket-style dresses that appeared as though they’d been put on backwards. With the folded collar that would normally sit at the back on your neck instead at the front of the fit, they signified a refusal to follow the rules. Femininity doesn’t mean anything: it doesn’t even mean wearing your jacket the right way round.
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