Prada seemed to tap into a massive TikTok trend for its latest Milan Fashion Week show.
The coquette trend started gathering steam on social media in the middle of 2023, with its obsession with bows and all things pastel.
While the Prada collection was a darker, moodier take on this, bows were certainly present.
The opening look of the show was a black shift midi dress with silk black bows sewn all over – which fast the motif of the collection.
But it really was a show of two halves – on the one hand, you had what is seen as a stereotypically ‘feminine’ aesthetic, with bow detailing, midi-length skirts, brocade shift dresses and pastel cardigans. There was almost a 50s-inspired silhouette to some of the outfits, which was further emphasised by many models demurely holding handbags in the crook of their arms.
On the other hand was much more of a darker edge. Joint creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons played around with tailoring – beautifully constructed jackets and pencil skirts had the backs cut out, and were replaced by silk linings in pops of colour.
Leather coats and small Matrix-style sunglasses continued this edgier theme, while bomber jackets with a ‘P’ emblazoned on the front will no doubt be seen on plenty of celebrities in the coming months.
Some of the accessories were eye-catchingly unusual – such as the bulky ski-style gloves some models wore, making for a grungier replacement for the elegant opera gloves that have become a red carpet mainstay. And then there was the headgear, made up of strange, bulbous hats in various textures and colours.
This dichotomy between a more traditionally beautiful aesthetic and darker elements has long been a mainstay of the Prada/Simons partnership – and this season, it was neatly reflected in the music choices. My Funny Valentine by Nico and Anyone Who Knows What Love Is by Irma Thomas played as models walked the runway, interspersed with thumping techno beats.
Prada is the master of cinematic set design – last season models walked down the runway as slime dripped from the ceiling – and this collection was no different.
In a cavernous black room, the runway was raised and see-through, revealing lush greenery underneath – grass, shrubs, leaves and more. Prada said the set ‘reflects the contradiction between our indoor existence and our innate connection to the outdoors’.
And there were plenty of celebrities front row at the Fondazione Prada in Milan.
Actor and director Emma Watson – who recently appeared in a Prada campaign championing sustainability with regenerated nylon yarn – seemed to tentatively welcome the beginning of spring in a blue and white floral mini dress with a navy coat on top.
Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross was also in head-to-toe Prada, wearing a covetable beige bomber jacket on top of a navy skirt and textured shirt-style top.
Also on the front row was Euphoria star Hunter Schafer – wearing a futuristic beige jacket – The New Look actor Juliette Binoche, Gwendoline Christie – who is fresh off her viral moment on the Maison Margiela couture runway – and actor Lily James, who is currently promoting her new film, The Iron Claw.
