The Prada cure

Flowers and concrete: something delicate that was born in an impervious place, surviving adversity. From the tall columns of the Prada hall slowly descend coverings like white floral capitals. Flowers again open the show as three-dimensional embroideries of an imaginary trousseau on skirts or peeking out on the toe of ballerinas like buds set safe by wings that rise on the instep like aerodynamic fairings.

Once again, protection becomes a state of mind. «We were inspired by uniforms that represent caring, like nurses’ uniforms, because caring for others is a beautiful thing. We wanted to transform these uniforms from symbols of care to symbols of beauty», Miuccia Prada explained. Together with Raf Simons, she worked on an aesthetic analysis that starts from new canons to define the essence of beauty. What immediately comes to mind is something that is physically a few meters away from the show, namely the visual reflections told by Recycling beauty, the exhibition hosted by Fondazione Prada. Clothes become gestures, they tell a story. Wedding dresses thus become everyday garments, their skirts paired with knitwear for a new form of everyday wear. The protection of the body through clothing suggests a tender caring, a safekeeping. Wrapping volumes reshape classic tailored outerwear taken from the men’s wardrobe, with padding that shields and warms, while leather and suede garments draw inspiration from protective clothing, in a succession that seems to describe the birth of a new conceptual atelier devoted to the tailoring world.

Lines between the 1940s and the 1950s, full skirts and cigarettes and high-waist pants with color block games match the tops, and military references on dresses carved on the body, with shoulders decorated with insignia. Capes for new suffragettes, with post-war period traits to those snow-white dresses in the middle of the parade, recalling the whiteness of nurses in gowns-shirts with a train and a bourgeois handbag. «These typical uniforms, related to everyday work, are often seen as unimportant garments, not worthy of consideration, instead we want to celebrate them by giving them the importance they deserve», Raf Simons explained. «The people who wear them are important, their gestures are important, as are their lives. In the collection, we also find the opposite: garments reserved or created for a special occasion, such as wedding dresses, become everyday garments. After all, why should one celebrate love for only one day?».

Judgment. In a grand occasion show, a concept of fashion leaves no room for hesitation and hits the mark. The spirit of the Maison is powerful. Beautiful outerwear, interesting dresses. The collection opens up and unfolds its vestimentary wings to carve a beautiful series of garments that intelligently range from more drawn-out silhouettes to those very Mrs. Prada bourgeois references. (all rights reserved)