Prada’s announcement last February that Raf Simons would be co-creative directing with Miuccia Prada did not seem to really sink in, because today, we were surprised to witness her last solo collection. This is Prada’s final bow, three decades after presenting her first ready-to-wear collection in 1989.
As with all designers reacting to Milan’s spring 2021 menswear season, Prada took to the digital format. The Italian brand showcased its collection via a short film titled ‘The Show That Never Happened,’ in reference to the industry’s current exercise of virtual-only presentations. Broken up into five chapters, the film is lensed by photographers Terence Nance, Joanna Piotrowska, Martine Syms, Juergen Teller and Willy Vanderperre to create “a true conversation.”
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The alternating perspectives are intended to echo the lived experience of attending a show. Prada’s press release stated: “These inherently and fundamentally echo the traditional fashion show, where each observer has their own physical and ideological vantage-point on the collection, their own opinions, their own observations.” POVs range from a film noir motif set to a staccato rhythm of finger snaps to glitching references to cinema culture.
“It was an honour to be asked to photograph and film Miuccia‘s last collection,” expressed Teller. “I thought the men and women looked beautiful, elegant and modern. I enjoyed looking at Miuccia‘s vision and trying to make sense of it as honest and direct as possible.’
The clothes themselves are simple, but with purpose. “A radicalism is found in purity – simplicity with a complexity, yet an antidote to useless complication in precision and directness,” the brand explained. Prada honed in on the craft and the foundation of the brand’s aesthetic. Tailored mens suits are cut close to the body, dashes Prada’s technical nylon fabrics and Linea Rossa sportswear are displayed alongside soft knits that speak to our quarantined existence. The entire collection is finished in a soft palette of neutrals, with rare appearances of a florals and pastels. It’s a quiet collection, like a quiet goodbye.
Prada and Simons first joint collection premiers later this year during the womenswear spring-summer 2021 season.
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