Yahoo Finance The message from Milan? It’s time to forget the loungewear and get back to business
Before the world descended into our alternative Covid reality, Miuccia Prada announced that she would work alongside former Dior designer Raf Simons in a seismic Union of two fashion forces. Now, after two years, the pair were finally able to show the spoils of their happy fashion marriage in person, in a physical show with people present, instead of on screen.
And what people; to mark the occasion, Mrs Prada jetted in a raft of Hollywood A-listers to celebrate this easing into some form of freedom; Twin Peaks star Kyle McLaughlin, Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield, The Queen’s Gambit’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Jeff Goldblum. Back with a bang, and ready for action.
‘It’s about clothes that make people feel important. The idea of ‘classic’ is very important. The collection celebrates the idea of working. Formally important, not casual,” said Prada. It was a return to form, and to the cut and thrust of working life. There was a focus on formality and emphasis on tailoring, with boxy, precise jackets and lean, sharply cut trousers. Coats were heavy duty and sweeping. There was a heft and solidity to them that couldn’t be more diametrically opposed to the slouchy loungewear that’s become so prevalent during the pandemic. These were clothes for getting back to business, underlined by the cinched in waists on leather coats and jackets - the relaxing on the sofa is over. The pyjamas, which were sent to attendees of the show, were clearly a ruse; this was a uniform for being out in the world, finally, not holed-up inside.
That said, the collection wasn’t po-faced in its solemnity and seriousness; Prada always brings a playful twist to proceedings. Those elements were evident in the bands of fluffy faux-fur on the hems and sleeves of coats, as well as abstract digital floral prints on coats. Likewise the shirts and trousers in full nylon, in muted pinks, baby blues and lime colours; Miuccia Prada made nylon her signature back in the 90s, and this reinforcement of it throughout suggested a return to her heartland. That message was reinforced by enlisted models she’d previously used decades earlier.
There were onesies and work shirts that took their inspiration, said Simons, from workwear, as a counterpart to the more boardroom appropriate-attire. ‘There are things that could not be more opposite: sartorial tailoring with industrial shapes; overalls, workwear. It’s about work, movement, activity’, said the designer. We’ve been in a state of inertia for two years now; it’s time for some form, function and polished precision in how men dress.
