“A requiem for America?” Sent a message to an (American) friend in between. Well maybe, maybe not. Or at least it apparently wasn’t: When it was suggested that Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons might be thinking about timing the show on the eve of the inauguration, Prada demurred. And yet earlier he offered: “As always, it’s a response to what’s going on. So we have to use our instincts, our humanity, our passion and our hands to resist a world that is becoming so conservative.” Clearly that initial interpretation – and many others – were all valid conclusions from a show that was interesting. were full of clothing and possible metaphors.
Take the set. It was a vast, three-story warren of scaffolding: open but also claustrophobically supported by its bristling metal superstructure. The models began their walk on the upper floor, moving through the unlined rooms with art nouveau-style patterned carpet and stairs to the ground floor, designed by Catherine Martin. Since we were all packed so closely into it, the structure seemed a little unstable, even borderline fragile, fortunately not at the point of collapse. “You can think about the club, the work in progress, the construction, the architecture,” Simmons said.
The music also seemed deliberately ad-hoc, like a restless search through different stations. Emotional snippets of Rossini, Nyman and Puccini are interspersed with jagged sections of electronica. “Technology, technology, technology,” chanted a pleasant female voice before the models walked off.
The collection was like a soundtrack: an unconventional minestrone of ingredients drawn from different genres, creating a fusion that was unlikely. “We didn’t want to limit ourselves,” said Simons. Pieces and patterns (some previously seen at Prada, others not) were combined and collapsed into a single look, whose most regular foundation was stiletto feet. Had cowboy boots with toes. Pajama pants in traditional plain or striped piped cotton, or ’70s floral bedsheet prints, against coats and shirts in quirky plaids, house-cut suiting, tailored silk-satin pants in poppy colors, crewnecks with Western wear tooling. knitting details, high-shine down jackets and gilets, ivory silk evening wear, tightly patched leather suits, and traditionally Gentleman-ish outerwear that was often not collared but in roughly cut shearling hides. Models wore enamel or metal basketballs and baseballs as necklaces and earrings, or as chained amulets that hung like totems from knitwear.
Those skins were also sometimes worn as vests, in raw form or layered over knits, or the more innocent flower-covered detachable collars of the 70s during the outerwear section near the end. Was used. The Prada man was breaking down and then taking multiple looks at the dictionary – from caveman to cowboy to businessman and more – all at once, with apparently little regard for conventions of context, image or intent. With. This was curated chaos deployed to declare the new chaos.
However, in this ever-changing menswear season, the silhouette has remained relatively consistent. This was rooted in general thinness in contrast to the airiness of those high-heeled shoes and pant sizes. Simmons said: “We come to a point where we say, ‘This feels right.’ If we don’t really try to dictate something or create a theory, it’s more ‘that feels right.’ Because things are so loose and open and coming from so many different points, that’s something that’s very repetitive, almost.” Raw and cooked, served on the same Prada plate.