Prada takes us on a sartorial journey through time for AW24, harmoniously marrying eras of significant fashion impact together in one collection. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons viewed fashion history as a learning tool to inform the future and utilises this collection as a means of reaffirming underlying beauty ideals that have withstood the test of time. Take for example reinvented references of pillbox hats adorned in feather-like detail, 50s-inspired tailoring, technicolour cardigans or ruffled silks that evoke Victorian-era England. There were some on-the-nose references to the Maison's past, including a letterman jacket with a '1913' patch to remind wearers of Prada's founding year.
Materials came together in juxtaposition, with tweed jackets completed with a silk panel and structured caps wrapped in velvet. An homage to craftsmanship and a representation of the delightfully whimsical wonderland that is Miuccia Prada's mind, shift dresses were covered top-to-bottom in bows with glittering iterations of the same bows punctuating knitwear - "clichés of femininity – bows, frills, ruffles – are reconsidered, their meaning fundamentally reassessed," reads Prada's statement - while coveted bags hung from mini-belts.
The collection features similar themes from the AW24 menswear collection shown in January, incorporating a similar refreshed workwear feel and utilising the same set design. Rewatch the show
