The Russian attack on Ukraine was a jolt to the celebratory mood in Milan, where all of a sudden, balaclavas and a military drumbeat on the runway at Max Mara Thursday morning, for example, started to feel very different.
But the news didn’t stop throngs of gawkers from gathering outside Fondazione Prada in the afternoon, including one woman carrying a paper shopping bag scrawled with the words, “No War in Ukraine.”
A bag for the moment.
What will happen as the invasion continues and brands start to be pulled into the topic remains to be seen. It seems like something must be said. But the bubble held through Thursday, at least.
When Kim Kardashian was photographed Wednesday in Milan wearing a Prada triangle bra top and leather boiler suit, she was not only teasing her presence (and flexing her influence while Julia Fox is also in town), but also the celeb route Prada would take once again this season.
Kardashian, Rita Ora, Storm Reid and others were in the seats, while A-list models Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner led the runway charge.
It’s easy to be skeptical of the all-star approach at this point in the game, when Balenciaga, Fendi, Gucci and so many others have already been there, done that. (Kardashian, herself, is a serial collaborator.)
Not to mention that Prada has long been a bellwether of fashion intellectualism, and still is if one considers how co-designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons philosophize. “Tradition is about humanity — connections between people, passing down knowledge. A human history. These ideas interested us — to look at how and why things had been created in certain ways. But there is only a trace, a memory. It’s not retro, at all,” Miuccia Prada said in a quote provided by the brand.
But Simons has his own fascination with pop culture, putting the Kardashians in underwear ads when he was at Calvin Klein, for example.
And the stars in the seats added to the feeling that this is a new Prada for the logo merch, clicks-‘n’-pics-obsessed customer.
On the runway, the co-designers succeeded in recontextualizing Prada’s ladylike DNA for the streetwear-loving set, and bringing the Prada design vocabulary of classic crewneck and geo-pattern knits, finely tuned tailoring, feminine full skirts, sheer innerwear and assertive outerwear, and joyful jeweled embellishment into the now.
The first look, a white ribbed tank with triangle logo, worn with a slightly grunge, lingerie-like, paneled slip skirt, set the tone for the commercial lineup, which featured multiple versions of the skirt, in transparent stripes of metallic mesh, satin, leather or knit, and different levels of concealing and revealing the leg, with choices for the fashion-modest and fashion daredevil alike.
They were worn with geometric knits, tidy crewneck and turtleneck sets, supersized leather jackets, strong-shouldered blazers or nylon bombers embellished with crystal flowers that looked trend-right. The exploration of tailoring continued in coats and coat dresses with cool-looking chain necklaces attached at the lapel, and glossy leather Dick Tracy-style trenchcoats, echoing the men’s collection versions.
Double-breasted wool jackets and overcoats with arm bands of feathers or fur were statement outerwear pieces in quirky color combinations harkening back to Prada days of old, and the bags were reminiscent of the bowling styles of the 1990s, with a faded patina adding that perfect note of imperfection.
Double triangle pouch handbags and inverted wedge-heel Mary Janes also looked familiar but new, as did the models’ alien matron hairstyles.
And if it all seemed a bit repetitive, let’s not forget that Prada has always been about uniform dressing. This collection was the next chapter of that story, and a compelling one at that.
