Simplicity Reigns

Steering the Prada ship away from maximalist fashion and overt decadence for Autumn/Winter 2017, Miuccia Prada’s collection was stripped back to the roots of the Prada aesthetic. Citing a need to turn the big into the small (she said backstage, “I would say that the main sentiment that I had is going from bigness to smallness; from the big deal of the installation—big architecture and construction—the big deal of fashion, the big deal of art, the big deal of everything. And to go opposite. More human, more simple, more real . . . the desire for reality, humanity, and simpleness.”), the collection was the most normcore Prada has ever been: button-down shirts, v-neck jumpers, corduroys and banal watercoloured knitwear.

70s Flavours

There were hints and peeks at a 70s influence here, with an analogue colour palette, berets and biker hats matching the suede and leather patches creating pieces that managed to be both 1977 and 2017 at once. A belted corduroy jacket in a vivid burnt orange and brown leather trousers gave off a dad-in-a-disco vibe, but evoked the modernist simplicity of the Copenhagen cool kids, as well as the importance of the decade in terms of social progress.

Bed Time

Prada’s AW17 show was exhilarating, so the attendees were thankful that part of the set design included some homely beds. The label’s set designs are always looked forward to, always reflect the spirit of the show in a manner that is just as innovative as the clothes. Collaborating with OMA, the audience watched while perched on beds made of leather linen that wouldn’t go amiss in a 50s Mid-West motel room.