Prada does skew weird sometimes. For spring/summer 2021, the peculiar is stronger than ever. That's a good thing
Offbeat at Prada is never off-putting. The spring/summer 2025 collection is definitely Prada at its most oddball, but it is not strangeness without the heft of good clothes or, as members of the media are wont to say, classics, including, of course, their uniforms. This time, there was more than what can be unpacked in a single viewing. It was like Prada needed to tossed in the proverbial kitchen sink. From the déshabillé of the first floral dress to the Space-Agey, almost-Rabanne metallic dress with circular cutouts towards the end, the surprise and the endless flow of ideas—in the design and the styling—were exhilarating. And surprising—a quality so absent in fashion weeks of the past many years. So wonderfully weird and welcomed the looks were that watching the livestream gave us goosebumps.
On their own, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have never really been this way-out, even when they can be idiosyncratic. But together, they seemed to have thrown caution to the squall, and tossed everything into the spin cycle to see what came out. The result some have considered not quite palatable, but so were the house's puke green and gaudy wallpaper prints of the past, yet they defined Prada for an era, and another. When both designers emerged to take the customary bow at an entrance into the cavernous brand HQ in Milan that served as the meandering, floor-level runway, Mr Simons punched the air triumphantly. Was it he who decided to take the risk? And, seeing the affirming applause, was thrilled that it was a risk worth embracing, the kitchen sink deserving its place in the mashed-up weirdness? So far, incessant thumb-ups have been given to Marni. To us already, Prada's will be the best collection of the season.
The high that coursed through our body was derived from seeing the plethora of what would not usually be considered proper in dressmaking, but also in how one must be dressed to be considered fashionable or tasteful. We love how despite the use of much that would be considered standard in the Prada repertoire, even taking digs at Miu Miu—that tube top, now with pocket flaps!, the looks were more aggressive than usual and twisted. There is much to draw from the kooky pairings too: polo top under sheer dress, pussy-bow blouse with punky skirt, tube top of metallic discs and school-teacher skirt. The details truly astonished: collars and shirt hems wired so that can be scrunched up, fringing beneath a border that could have been taken off a Western shirt, serrated edge of what would be a prim puff-sleeved blouse. So too the hardware—rings and carabiners—used in place of more traditional ornaments, such as bugle beads. The skirts that were not secured with a waistband, but 'hanging' under a belt by means of rings and carabiners.
The accessories were not languishing in the shadows. Apart from the handbags and footwear, there were eyewear so huge (and hexagonal), they really should be face wear, ditto some of the head pieces, a few were topless, holed bucket hats or what could be raffia terendaks, also with the tops lobbed off. What was missing was the Prada logo—well, sort of. The Prada inverted triangle has evolved, once more. From the original metal plaque, it has become a knitted piece or those in plain jersey. But now, the physical item was omitted. In its place is a skin-baring hole in the recognisable and desirable shape. Just as with the Swoosh, the triangolo invertito can stand alone without an accompanying name. With Prada, and only Prada, we often cannot wait for the clothes to arrive at the store so that we can see them and touch them to experience their unique wondrousness for ourselves. This quite-mad collection was no exception.
Screen shot (top): Prada/YouTube. Photos: Prada
No comments:
Post a Comment