The Prada Fall/Winter 2024 Womenswear show was presented in Milan today to the soundtrack of The Flamingos’ song “I Only Have Eyes for You;” a fitting track considering that most of the fashion-conscious world only had eyes for Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ collection. Inviting us back to the Fondazione Prada, the location of Prada’s FW24 Menswear show in January, a familiar array of office chairs and low-lit foliage beneath glass flooring filled the space, creating the illusion that we already had some kind of awareness of what was to come from the collection too. An assumption that was sorely wrong.
As guests, including the likes of Hunter Schafer, Anna Wintour, Emma Watson, Tracee Elliss Ross, and Gabbriette, arrived at the location of Prada’s FW24 Womenswear show, they were ushered into a show space that we had all seen before. Blending nature with the nine-to-five, the runway at Prada’s FW24 Menswear show had been symbolic of the collection, which was rooted in corporate style codes, blending bold colours and muted earth tones. Given the identical show space, we were lulled into a sense that the Womenswear collection would follow the same trend.
However, the first look that stepped onto Prada’s glossy forest floor was far from what we expected. A black tunic-style dress with a lace slip beneath its hem was decorated with a myriad of silk bows, paired with chunky black boots and a fur (that almost looked like hair) riding hat in dusty blue. This was followed by a grey, tailored jacket and skirt with a twist: the skirt’s hem split at the sides and transformed from a pleated suit-skirt to white silk at the back. This silhouette became a common feature within the collection, appearing on a variety of looks and sometimes even inverted, so the silk was at the front.
The unusual hats continued to accessorise Prada’s collection (also appearing in velvet variations with material piled in ripples), accompanying mesh dresses with floral-inspired velvet detailing before we saw a second iteration of the first look with pink silk bows and a black slip beneath it. Pointed heels in a spectrum of colours, from classic black to bold pops of red, were paired with many looks, alongside a myriad of bags in varying silhouettes.
The briefcase-inspired bags we saw at Prada’s Menswear show reappeared on the runway today, shrunk but with the same waistband-style rim and belt buckle detailing. These were joined by thin leather bags adorned with a chunkier belt-style handle and larger, structured bags with belt-style straps attached asymmetrically to their corners, which were wrapped around models’ wrists. Thin-rimmed glasses were also worn by many of the models, an office-core reference if we ever saw one.
As the iconic textured hats transformed, now in the same sailor-style silhouette previously seen at Prada’s Menswear show, we began to notice details within the collection that normally one would miss: that the backs of garments were as thoughtful, detailed, and elevated as their fronts, if not even more so. Tailored jackets appeared with silken backs adorned with waist-coat style cinching back–buckles before we saw skirts with subtle ruffle details that could only be seen from behind.
These gave way to bold pops of colour seen on knitwear and shirts tucked into pencil skirts that almost perfectly matched the colour combinations Prada presented at its Menswear show, before a range of oversized, leather varsity jackets emblazoned with a simple “P”. Outerwear was simple yet elevated, seen in a clean-cut, black, leather trench coat, a button-down cream jacket, and a cropped biker jacket, that was paired with a pencil skirt with a bow attached to the back.
The collection suddenly took a turn with a range of looks that almost appeared utilitarian in style, seen in all black, embossed anoraks and high-collared jackets. Toggles detailed the back of a water-proof, structured dress with a sliced neckline, and zips were seen on almost every garment within this section of the show. Even the final look, an elevated, black A-line dress, was adorned with toggles and zips, almost placing it within the popular (yet relatively “un-Prada”) gorp-core aesthetic.
Prada’s Fall/Winter 2024 Womenswear collection was a blend of aesthetics which married youthful styles with elevated, established pieces. We saw Raf Simons’ expert understanding of tailoring deconstructed and transformed into a collection of reimagined suit jackets and skirts, unlike anything we’ve seen before. This, accompanied with Miuccia Prada’s unafraid approach to merging the new and old, the usual and the unusual, resulted in a collection that was unbelievably current whilst being absolutely unpredictable.
Featured image via Prada ©
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