“Everything is about lightness,” said Miuccia Prada of her Spring 1996 collection. Putting aside the house’s signature stiff-ish nylon, she sought out fabrics with more flou; traded prints for embroideries and jacquards; and deconstructed “a fitted 19th-century shape,” retaining its waist-centric silhouette while jettisoning its traditionally heavy structure. There were many, many sheer lingerie looks in a decidedly un-springlike palette of burgundy and navy, as well as touches of military tailoring. Despite the overwhelming number of see-through pieces (Instagram and its nipple ban had yet to be invented) and the models’ smoky eyes and slept-in, braided up-dos, the effect wasn’t bad girl, but ethereal and dreamy. It was a mood that Glen Luchford would re-create in the Amber Valletta–fronted ads he shot for the Spring 1997 season.
