Shrink-wrapped Reality at Prada
Review of Prada Spring 2025 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
Talking to The Impression backstage, on their why behind the collection, Miuccia Prada said “We wanted to express youthful optimism”. A sentiment that aligns with how the brand is one of only a few who are outperforming the market in a widely-reported slowdown in luxury spending. So even if the co-creative directors opted for a film, lookbook, or presentation Prada would continue to sell. Such is the brand cachet and cultural relevance that has been built up through a strong product offer, clever marketing that picks up on the zeitgeist, and a slew of new brand ambassador appointments from the K-pop and Thai Drama spheres.
Asking their audience to consider what is true and what is pretence in todays climate, where once things were black and white (now facts can be considered ‘fake news’) the dual design collaborators have found more power in reality. Seeing things for what they are now that AI-generated images and ChatGPT are making it more difficult to decipher the real from the fake, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons simply request that we take a closer look and the truth will often reveal itself. This is how the collection unfolded as one which appeared one way at first but as the models got closer a new concept would come to the fore. An example of which were the low-slung ‘belted’ trousers, that were a trompe l’oeil effect, having been printed onto the fabric. Silhouettes were also shrink-to-fit this season and deliberately cropped (another nod to the emerging boyhood season theme) and were reminiscent of borrowed and well-worn heirlooms, which was referenced as “pieces stolen from mother or father” in the show notes. Exaggerated crease details on a tailored suit were purposefully made to “bear traces of time – imperfection another sign of living, of reality” according to the co-creative directors.
Titled ‘Closer’, the set for today’s show included a fairytale-style house that was lit up as if a house party were happening inside, but this was all part of the storytelling narrative of today’s pressing need to commune, and according to the notes “a hut, the simplest structure, stands nearby as a totem of the essential, the necessary, the real, reflected in the clothes that are uncontrived and direct”.
THE BUZZWORDS
Shrink-wrapped, reality Vs fantasy, retro active
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #4
Last seasons back-to-work approach has become this seasons subversion of reality as we’re invited by Prada and Simons to look closer as everything doesn’t appear as first seen.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
We wanted to create clothes that have lived a life, that are alive in themselves. There is a sense of spontaneity and optimism to these clothes – they reflect instinctive but deliberate choices, freedom.
– Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, co-creative directors, Prada
THE WRAP UP
What may have at first seemed another masterful collection from Prada and Simons, sure to spawn a legion of new fans – for the day-glo bright accessories and metal toe-capped footwear alone – was a more studied take on what is real or not in a world where the lines are becoming increasingly blurred.
But what don’t lie are the numbers and Prada is continuing to make steady progress with its quirky design ideals that require an engaging of the mind to participate. Their simple designs on the surface always give way to a deeper study of form and function and in that way spring 2025 will be no different, as an evolution of the way in which the unexpected can transform.
