23 February 2024 |
Bows, ruffles, and rosettes meet masculine tailoring.
Miuccia Prada doesn’t do nostalgia, as she famously told a reporter years ago. What she does do however, is find romance with the past, as she demonstrated for Prada’s fall 2024 runway presentation. Along with Raf Simons, the collection was meant to embed fashion with fragments of histories and explore the notion of beauty in a contemporary world that’s formed by memories. How that translates are looks that riff on the idea of girlhood juxtaposed against tailoring as well as wardrobe classics like leather jackets and cardigan sets.
The runway from the menswear show, with its glass over a nature-inspired surface complete with grass, rocks, and water, made another reappearance. Like last season, the front row was filled with brand ambassadors ranging from Hunter Schaefer to Letitia Wright to Emma Watson to Jeon Somi. Also in attendance were Tracee Ellis Ross, Gwendoline Christie, Juliette Binoche, Yara Shahidi, among many more, making for a celebrity-filled show.
Opening with a bow festooned blacked dress worn with an oversized cap covered in fabric feathers, Mrs. Prada and Simons made a case that our collective obsession with bows is far from over. The motif reappeared again in a pink dress while later looks featured the adornment on the shoulders. Per the show notes, the two wanted to take the clichés of femininity and question why they remain in the public consciousness. That also meant skirts with ruffles or rosettes adorning the backside as well as frill accents.
For every frilly look reexamined, there were also plenty of masculine codes made feminine. The series of suits was the best example, as the front was seemingly your classic wool or tweed jacket and skirt set. From behind however, it was spliced with silk, adding a delicacy to tailoring. The same can be said of the leather bombers and motorcycle jackets, which were paired with delicate slip-like knee length and maxi skirts.
Prada is at its best when Mrs. Prada and Simons present contrasts with a bit of quirk. That’s most evident in the parade of hats that top off every look. Made to be deliberately large, they serve to push the overall proportions and remind us that at the heart of the brand is a self-assured woman who isn’t afraid to dress how she wishes, contradictions be damned.
