The joint attempts of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have not been overlooked. Quite the opposite, in fact, that’s all anyone can talk about. Since the announcement of their titles of co-creative director in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 does lead to global lockdowns, the trail has changed dramatically. Their first collection last September arrived with quiet fanfare, the only one that could follow a digital home-premiering show, but their thriving partnership continues to thrive. Prada’s Fall/Winter 2021 collection gives us something to be eager about.
In a post-show Q&A that followed the runway video, the Prada team brought together the world when everyone is feeling so distant. Hosting a digital panel discussion (which looks a lot more chic than your typical Zoom reunion), the conversation reunited Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons alongside other creators, including actress Hunter Schafer, director Lee Daniels (who hired Prada to regenerate Billie Holiday’s outfits for his movie The United States vs. Billie Holiday), and acknowledged Prada addict Marc Jacobs (“Prada-ness is Mrs. Prada,” he says in the video), in a discussion that focused on fashion as a form of storytelling in the midst of a global pandemic for collaboration in the arts with new responsibilities in the fashion community. “Being involved in everything from variety to gender,” says Ms. Prada, “you really have to be dynamic, responsible.”
The collection itself is a mashup. We are once again witnessing their two brains at work. Ms Prada’s overthrow of femininity and ’70s graphics is seen through the lens of Simons’ futuristic cuts, most noticeable in the silhouettes of oversized shoulders and heavy suits that move away from the body. It is a collection of outerwear, intended to create future heirlooms. Sequins and faux fur coexist with Prada’s signature Re-nylon textile, now in the form of modern parkas, tightened by models like pearls. The printed jacquard knits are reworked into leggings, turtlenecks, catsuits or bags. Unsurprisingly, these are the accessories that stand out on the catwalk. Simons revisits the glove-pouch combo that seems street style suited, even if these streets are the ones you walk through on your daily quarantine walk. Our favorite item? The heavy-hoofed boots that are only practical in this “Prada-ness” way: little impractical to the untrained eye, but nonetheless worthy of a cult.
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