What does it mean for clothing to be lived-in from the start? At Prada, the answer unfolds through softened pumps, deliberately reimagined seams, and handbags bearing the illusion of age. There’s a sense of duty to not just dress the body, but also echo its quirks and character, in Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s recent collections. The co–creative directors showed skirts and coats with slits just high enough to allow for optimal mobility for Fall/Winter 2021.
Two years later, in the house’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, raw-edged skirts and gently creasing suiting set the tone with an insouciance that felt more than sartorial. This season’s offerings give new momentum—and no small dose of whimsy—to the studied mundaneness that’s become a pillar of the brand.
PREMEDITATED PATINA
Atelier shots show a pump from the Fall/Winter 2025 collection being sanded and scuffed by the team—a process of deliberate undoing. Eventually, the pointed toe will be further softened by the wear of its owner, the only proof of its pristine origins being the Prada label added as a calling card to the front of the heel.
RAW REFINEMENT
A slate gray, Shetland wool dress was lifted from its native corporate-conservative habitat and cinched, pulled, and rethreaded into a bloom of contours. A nipped waist gives way to a softly construct-ed knot at the bust, both anatomically observant and abstract. In Milan this past February, the dress traipsed down the runway, styled with stomp-worthy boots and a plum-red leather handbag as the collection’s stylist, Olivier Rizzo, juxtaposed office finery with the unkempt edge best associated with after-hours diversions.
TUMULTE ON TOP
The season’s handbag star is the Prada Tumulte. Introduced on the runway alongside blurred silhouettes and tousled hairstyles, the leather doorstop distills femininity through Prada’s utilitarian bent. A siphon for the day-to-day chaos that gives it its name, the Tumulte’s rounded body, accordion-like sides, and hang-off-the-wrist chain show strategic signs of faux wear and tear—battle scars for the woman who can wear anything.
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