Wonderland.

Prada and Willy Vanderperre × The Broken Arm

Prada and Willy Vanderperre celebrate their exclusive collaboration at The Broken Arm in Paris.

It wouldn’t be Mrs Prada if she didn’t constantly challenge fashion’s status quo. Yet, Miuccia’s genius still leaves us with our jaws to the floor and a serious case of infatuation with her collections season in, season out. While until now, only a few were lucky enough to get up close and personal with her creations at shows and backstage, leaving the rest of us dreaming of the day when it will be our turn, it seems that now, our luck is turning for the better.

As guests took their seats at the Fondazione Prada and others waited patiently by their computer screens to see the Autumn/Winter 2016 menswear and womenswear shows, Belgian photographer Willy Vanderperre was busy backstage, snapping away, capturing the garments about to step out on the runway, revealing their complexity and intricate illustrations by Christophe Chemin in all their glory. We could then feast our eyes on these exclusive and intimate images on prada.com in three parts: ‘Dis-Dressed,’ appearing in January, ‘Dis-Dressed Epilogue,’ which made us crave for next winter already in February and ‘Dis-Dressed Redux,’ revealed in April, making the rainy days infinitely better.

Now, however, the Prada-Vanderperre duo is taking things further. From June 20 to July 6, 2016, during menswear fashion week in Paris, they are teaming up with the Parisian store The Broken Arm, exhibiting Vanderperre’s photographs in the store’s windows as a celebration of the project. But they are not stopping there. A limited edition book will also be available to purchase from The Broken Arm entitled ‘Dis-Dressed,’ containing every image taken for the ‘Dis-Dressed Redux’ series, featuring models-of-the-moment Lexi Boling and Lorena Maraschi. Basically a piece of Prada’s collection right in your home, ready to be inspected and scrutinised, or just oooh-ed and ahh-ed over to your heart’s desire. Still not enough? Not to worry, there’s another worldwide exclusive to lay your hands on this June and July. The ‘Impossible True Love’ print shirt adorned with Chemin’s artworks that Instagram was (rightfully so) full of in January during, and long after, Prada’s A/W 16 menswear show, is also going to make an appearance during the brand’s tenure at The Broken Arm, though considering the hype around it, it won’t stick around for long.

So if you find yourself in Paris for men’s fashion week, clear a time in your schedule, hurry over to The Broken Arm and grab all you can! Heck, why not just go to Paris anyway, Prada, Vanderperre and The Broken Arm are surely a good enough reason to justify the trip!

Words
Barbora Kozusnikova