Prada means business as it looks to sharpen up men’s suits
There’s more than a little absurdity to watching a parade of expensive clothes against a backdrop of war, climate change and a tremulous financial situation. Which Miuccia Prada, one of fashion’s most forward-thinking intellectuals, is conscious of.
“We always talk about reality and we, as designers, are aware of the difficulties,” she said at the unveiling of her recent men’s fashion show in Milan. “It’s a complicated moment, and the simplest thing we can do is create something useful for people today, to face reality in,” she added, a nod to the stripped-back suits and ruthlessly pared-back jackets, coats and accessories. No quirky touches or playfulness – normally a hallmark of Ms Prada – just severe, uniformed clothes.
The suit’s been up for debate for a while now – how does a man wear one in a post-covid world? Prada’s suggestion is that he sharpen up in rigorous, lean tailoring – body jackets with high, abbreviated lapels, and narrow trousers devoid of detail and starkly minimal.
The idea of smartness was exaggerated in the oversized shirt collars too; the shirt has had a tricky time of it as casualisation becomes the mainstay of men’s wardrobes, so Prada’s emphasis underlines its place in a man’s attire today.
Coats were lean as a whip and in the same uniformed style as the suits – non-colours of black and greys and stripped of any surface texture or detail.
Of course, there’s “reality” and then there’s “Prada fashion world reality”, which parlayed into oversized puffa jackets that were exaggerated in scale and evoked a feeling of protection. So, too, did the abundance of suede jackets and trousers with smock-like tops, a heavy-duty, rustic fabric designed with endurance in mind (not that you’ll be chopping wood in these four-figure suede jerkins, obviously). There were punctuations of bold colour, with primary brights on jackets and knitwear; perhaps we need a bit of optimism at the moment.
These were the more showy pieces designed for the K-pop contingent that brought a mass of screaming teenage girls to the venue; the thing that will resonate in store is those precise suits.
Prada now designs her collections alongside Belgian stylist Raf Simons and there’s talk of a succession plan in place for when the 73-yearold decides to step back. Prada’s starkly clean suits were part of her calling card back in the 90s, and his zeroing in on great tailored suits without any bells and whistles felt like a way to underline the fact that this is part of what she does best (alongside a myriad of other things that other designers end up aping).
Yes, fashion’s always going to seem throwaway at times of global uncertainty, and what happens on a Milan catwalk may seem to have little resonance with the average man, but Prada is something of a bellwether and where she leads, others follow; expect a shift towards serious, upright suits that mean business.
‘It’s a complicated moment, and the simplest thing we can do is create something useful for people to face reality in’