As Milan Ends And Paris Begins, A Reflection On Purpose, Clarity, And Why Fashion Matters
This weekend in Milan, ahead of the Prada show, I caught up with with Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons to discuss the collection and the thinking behind it.
What struck me wasn’t a particular garment or trend. It was a question.
What is the purpose of fashion?
For a collection built around something as universal as jeans, the conversation quickly became philosophical. Raf spoke about making garments people genuinely want to wear. Miuccia spoke about rejecting what she called “useless design.” The collection reflected that thinking: familiar pieces reconsidered with precision rather than excess.
It made me think of other moments I’ve encountered recently.
Earlier this week, walking through Fendi’s Milan flagship to see the first pieces arriving from Maria Grazia Chiuri, I was drawn to a similar sensibility. The collection wasn’t built around spectacle, but around everyday clothes elevated through intelligence, proportion, and subtle execution.
Fashion criticism often favors drama. The grand gesture commands attention. Yet some of the industry’s most enduring designers have built their reputations on something quieter.
They understand that fashion succeeds when it becomes part of someone’s life.
As Raf said during our conversation, seeing people actually wear the clothes remains the greatest reward. Otherwise, why do it?
That question feels particularly relevant now.
In a world increasingly measured by content and endless novelty, there is something refreshing about designers returning to purpose. Not simplification for its own sake, but clarity. An understanding that good design should have a reason to exist.
Those questions don’t end in Milan.
This week the conversation moves to Paris, where some of the season’s most anticipated debuts and collections will unfold. Celine and Givenchy are among the houses that will command the industry’s attention as Paris Men’s Fashion Week begins in earnest.
Different houses will offer different answers, but the underlying challenge feels remarkably similar. How do you create work that resonates beyond the moment? How do you balance novelty with relevance? And how do you make fashion that people genuinely want to live with?
We’ll be there following the shows, speaking with the people behind them, and looking beyond the headlines for the ideas shaping fashion’s future.
Because sometimes the most important question isn’t what’s new.
It’s why it matters.
Warm regards,
Kenneth Richard