Liberating the Prada Uniform
Review of Prada Spring 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Freedom from Restriction, Colour Composition, Liberation from Uniformity
The contrast between the Prada woman and the Miu Miu girl was never more pronounced that it was in todays collection. Last season ‘bullet bras’ were all the rage and sparked as much online chatter as when Kim Kardashian launched her controversial (and no doubt best-selling) ‘Nipple Bra’. But, the ‘bras’ on show today were almost paper-thin, made from lightweight silks as they knowingly betrayed the idea that form should follow function. Laying loose across the bust, the duo deliberately threw the necessity of support to the wind. This would be the “Pieces…liberated from seemingly inherent hierarchies” that the show notes spoke of, as “a response to the overload of contemporary culture”. A reoccurring theme this season as designers try to deflect the heaviness felt in the world with lighter, vibrant and dare I say it, fun clothing.
In an attempt to move away from the strictures being imposed on certain subsets of society, utilitarianism and its associations have been released, and a pivot into soft power is the preferred method of translating dark into light.
Prada – the brand – has never followed the rules or gone by conventional standards of dress, so why should next season break the habit of a lifetime (in fashion terms). Everyday and occasion dressing were analysed for their suitability to be entered into a programme of ‘recomposition [for a] new elegance’. The laws of structure were abandoned, and unconventional applications of fit were applied. Skirts ‘conventionally’ affixed to a women’s waist were instead suspended from the shoulders – apron-style – and classic shift dress hems were drawn up and skewed to reveal a crumpled puffball skirt spilling out in acid green or tangerine. Colour also played a major role in the collection as both designers way around an awkward colour pairing could not be tamed, becoming the ‘unexpected and unanticipated’ elements referenced in the notes.
The viscosity of the future kept the design duo on their toes this season, knowing that the world around us has begun to feel unrecognisable with every news cycle, Prada said their reaction to the uncertain was “clothes that can shift, change, adapt”. Releasing friction to allow for the ‘Prada uniform’ to occupy the same position as an evening dress, and in the opening looks this was clear in the unconventional pairing of a utility jumpsuit, as well as the reworking of the preppy polo shirt into a shacket by splicing through its front and lining with a cotton canvas, creating an ‘unconventional’ opera coat that only needed the brands signature clutch gesture at the chest as confirmation.
Each look was an experiment in how to express freedom now. The wearing of miniskirts or trousers for women is no longer the controversy It once was in the sixties thanks to the rise of the Women’s Liberation Movement, and as we face another turning point for women’s rights (and freedoms) fashion should be the last component of their daily lives to restrict or confine. As Raf Simons explained ‘There is a physical liberation…physical emancipation, but also freedom as a state of mind’.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Inevitably, when we create we think about the world around us. The future is unknown. This collection is about reacting to the uncertain – clothes that can shift, change, adapt.”
Miuccia Prada, co-Creative Director, Prada
“We started from a sense of freedom – of expressing this through clothes. There is the license to combine different elements, to compose, and there is also a physical liberation, moving away from fashion as a sculptural imposition on the body of a woman.”
Raf Simons, co-Creative Director, Prada
THE WRAP UP
Next season Prada want women to respond to the chaos and overload of the outside world and create a sense of freedom via rejecting convention and embracing a not-so-typical Prada uniform.
