Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ ongoing study of uniforms and clothes that dress our everyday has made its way to the office. In a collision of “two existing worlds”, the design duo struck a balance between outdoor dressing and an exquisite 9-5 wardrobe. The pair were thinking of “renewal and change”, said Simons, “there is this idea of echoing surrounding, being influenced by environments in the garments themselves – office and nature, inside and out, the instinctive change of people shifting between these opposite spheres.”
The juxtaposition began with the set. At a first glance, Fondazione Prada had been transformed into a banal corporate office, equipped with harsh overhead lighting, desktop computers, blue working cubicles and swivel chairs. Yet housed beneath a Perspex glass floor was a living forest, with trickling streams and sprouting greenery filling the space.
Out came a procession of business suits with subtle subversions. Boxy blazers were worn over crisp shirts and skinny ties in delicious colour combinations: toffee and pale pink, chocolate and mint. Similar delightful pairings could be seen in the collection’s knitwear, where shrunken cardis came worn with sailor hats and swimming caps in vivid hues.
Throughout, roomy bombers, naval coats and drainpipe rain macs tied into the collection being a “direct expression of the desire to go outside”, read the show notes, as Mrs P and Simons envisioned a wardrobe that’ll dress their customers as they “continue to look at the world with fresh eyes”.
Photography courtesy of Prada.
