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Photo-Illustration: Prada
From Milan this morning Prada released their fall menswear collection, our second chance to appreciate the combined genius of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons. While there have been loads of shows in this pandemic year, some quite ambitious in their use of technology (I’m thinking of Balenciaga’s VR show), we care nonetheless. little find out more about what Prada does. This is in part, if not in large part, due to Ms. Prada herself, the legacy of her rebellious imagination. If there has ever been the slightest doubt that Prada’s subject is Mrs P – which fascinates her, which amuses her – that should have been cleared up today when the lady said, in a question and answer session – post-show responses: “I never did anything for anyone. She did it for herself. And although she now shares the job with Simons, it’s that nervous, intelligent-shaped intuition that still keeps many of us interested.
Overall, the collection works. It introduces the idea of a basic piece of clothing – call it a onesie, a union suit, or a pair of leggings. The ‘suit’, in a range of different materials and knitted patterns, appeared under classic pinstripe suits, generously cut overcoats, faithful bombers and chunky sweaters, for a clean, slender-legged effect, with plain shoes with thick soles also ballast.
Photo: Prada
Ms Prada told a press conference that long leggings were Simons’ idea, and he said wetsuits were already standard equipment – for runners, surfers – although that’s not really the choice. source. Indeed, the fit seemed to vary, from clingy to roomy-comfortable, depending on the outfit. The main function of long underpants was to provide juxtaposition – to the rounded shapes of coats and jackets, to a contrasting pattern or to a fuzzy texture. I guess they are unisex.
The clothes seemed slightly at odds with the glamor of Simons and Ms. Prada’s debut collection, for women, with their satin clutch coats and kitten heeled shoes, much like a woman dragging her adorable but indifferent college-aged son. towards, well, a fashion show. And where the women’s collection was presented in an elegant, draped room, with digital monitors acting as a chandelier, the men’s show took place in a series of colors, false– fur lined rooms – part nest, part club, part Pee Wee theater Many models wore Buster Brown cuts.
Photo: Prada
I missed the older, bookish men who sometimes filled a Prada show. But my main pet peeve was that the clothes weren’t particularly erotic, despite the long pants. Wouldn’t you think that such a garment, linked to all kinds of male figures over the centuries, would spark a bit of sexual fantasy in 2021?
But no. It’s as if designers are obsessed with design, idea, not the effect – which is ironic, given the long history of men in tights (in the early 1300s) and the evolution of modern costume as traced by historians like the late Anne Hollander.
No designer lately has approached sexuality in a more intriguing way than Ms. Prada. Think back to the famous 2005 show with Doutzen Kroes and Lara Stone, which sparked amazing discussions online for days. Or his 2012 male presentation with Willem Dafoe and Gary Oldman. Some of the erotic emptiness of this latest show – not embarrassing, not neutral, just virgin – could be the result of the casting. The bodies were too uniformly similar – that is, very thin. Bigger physical differences could have caused wonder and joy. Another explanation for stifled sex may be the current situation – lockdowns across the world, gloom and, at the same time, reports of secret parties and raves that outright ignore social distancing. Some of the models at today’s Prada show may have danced spontaneously (we were told), but for some real drunkenness we’ll just have to wait.
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