Men are creatures of habit. We can buy the fanciest clothes out there, but the likelihood is we will always return to the same pair of trousers, or that same white tee that we wear week in, week out. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons understand this. With their latest Prada menswear show, the pair set out to create something new from what is already in our wardrobes. In a joint statement, they spoke of wanting to rebel “against exaggeration, against complex material. Against useless design.” It was a rejection of experimentation for experimentation’s sake.
Instead, the pair wanted to produce what they called an “exercise in clarity”. It started with jeans, or the idea of jeans, reimagined in different materials. They came in leather, wool and of course, denim (not blue, but in highlighter yellows, pink and purple). The silhouette was controlled close to the body: bottoms suctioned to the leg, the jackets on top cropped to reveal a slither of skin. Repeated and reconfigured, the look sometimes even came in semi-sheer fabric that exposed the body from within.
Apart from a procession of knits and trousers in clashing “ugly” Prada prints, decorative moments were left to the accessories. Sunglasses came with mismatched frames and belts were chunky and hung off the hip bones, dangling with mini nylon bags in bright hues.
The result was a collection clear in intention: cut the excess and focus on the fundamentals. “There was something compelling about reiteration,” said the designers of their approach. “It is about being extremely decisive.”
Photography courtesy of Prada.
