Show review in a sentence: A body-part slot machine of eras, shuffled into looks that are unmistakably Prada.
Designer: Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons
Location: Fondazione Prada
The vibe: Prada’s invitation arrived covered in the soft, furry loop side of Velcro, conspicuously missing its abrasive hook counterpart. A material whose entire purpose is attachment, presented incomplete. Which immediately begs the question: where’s the hook? Then, on Prada’s socials, came a pair of curved-heel pumps walking across the screen, their silhouette unmistakably reminiscent of the house’s 2007 heels. Together, the clues only added to the intrigue around what might unfold at today’s show.
Fast-forward two hours later to Fondazione Prada, where the industrial set first seen at the recent men’s spring/summer 2027 show once again set the stage for today’s presentation. Against the sweeping synthesised beats of Malcolm McLaren’s “Un Bel Dì Vedremo”, the first look emerged and instantly took us back to spring 2001, when Prada was at its most graphic and provocative direct.
The vision: It suddenly dawned on me that Velcro has been part of Prada’s vocabulary since the house’s infamous 1999 athleisure flurry, resurfacing again in 2018 and now today. This time, the industrial fastening appeared as rectangular patches holding together wrap skirts, at moments almost obi-like in their construction, particularly when encrusted with crystals and rendered in washes of dove grey and pale azure.
The minimal approach to dressing that defined Prada in the early 2000s was also in full swing. Pleated skirts were paired with little more than a bralette, while the season’s emerging tendency to layer sheer fabrics over textured underskirts made the proposition feel unexpectedly compelling.
What I enjoyed most, though, was the return of Prada’s clever print clashes. Painterly brushstrokes sat against 1970s bathing-suit florals, creating that familiar tension between questionable taste and absolute correctness. Somehow, in Prada’s hands, the two continue to coexist perfectly. In many ways, the show felt like a body-part slot machine: silhouettes, eras, textures and references shuffled, spliced and rearranged into looks that somehow work simply because they are unmistakably Prada.
If there is one bone to pick, it is perhaps a question of innovation. For a house so often associated with looking forward, Prada has, for several seasons now, seemed increasingly content to play within its own sandbox.
What to shop from this collection: Need I say more? It’s definitely the emerald-green wrap skirt from look 3, if only for the sheer mileage it would get in one’s wardrobe. And if skirts are the focus this season, I’d go the extra mile for the opaque knee-length style with its double band of inner bow detailing from look 19.
The black crystal flowers, which I’m sure will cost an arm and a leg, would be irresistible to any die-hard Prada fan. Then there are the curved-heel pumps, treading that perfect line between classic and something deliciously, almost sickly archival. And lest we forget, the brushstroke skirt from look 32 already feels like one of the season’s keepers.
1 / 12
Look 1
2 / 12
Look 3
3 / 12
Look 10
4 / 12
Look 13
5 / 12
Look 16
6 / 12
Look 19
7 / 12
Look 26
8 / 12
Look 30
9 / 12
Look 32
10 / 12
Look 35
11 / 12
Look 48
12 / 12
