Bergdorf’s Dedicates Windows to Prada
● The store’s Fifth Avenue windows feature Prada’s spring collection, which explores the notion of uniform.
Bergdorf Goodman has dedicated all its Fifth Avenue windows to the Prada spring/ summer 2021 collection, the debut collection by co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.
The windows, which were completed today, have black and white full-size videos as background and are illuminated with a yellow perspective frame.
The collection explores the notion of uniform, touching on multiple interpretations of that concept — a uniform of Prada, of a community, a visual representation of identity, of shared and embraced values, a way of thinking.
The clothes are pared-back without superfluous decoration. There are shell tops, straight pants, overcoats in industrial Re-nylon, constructed using couture techniques and suits executed in fleece.
The windows will be up through March 22. “It’s rare for us to dedicate all of our Fifth Avenue windows to any one brand story, but this seminal collection which resulted from the historically important new artistic collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons deserved our best real estate,” said Linda Fargo, senior vice president, women’s fashion and store presentation director at Bergdorf’s. “We consider this of historical fashion importance, and Bergdorf’s has always been, and will always stand, for the best that the global fashion world has to offer from its best minds and talent.
“Together they are a perfect storm, and the collection has already clearly reset and strengthened the memorable Prada DNA,” added Fargo. “The reaction has been immediate. People know authentic and moving design when they see it. And they want to be a part of it. The Re-nylon cocoon wraps! The hole-y knits! This collection is a collector’s paradise. The windows were meant to be as big and strong and moving as the collection itself.”
The four of the windows at Bergdorf Goodman Men’s Store across the street highlight Multiple Views SS21, a men’s collection designed by Miuccia Prada (her last solo collection) that focuses on the quintessence of Prada. The silhouette for men is sharp and narrow, fitted, with technologically innovative fabrics of Prada nylon and stretch materials, along with traditional suiting.
Back in September, when Prada and Simons debuted their collection, Simons told WWD, “I was thinking of how I have perceived Prada over 25 years, and one thing that came out instantly was uniform. A uniform gives a sense of community. In a context of reduction, the idea of a uniform is a representation of longevity. In all honesty, I have been looking at Miuccia, how she is dressed, her uniform. It is what she finds important.”
In the same review, Prada said that
Simons’ and her goal was to enhance their customers’ lives. “In a time of incredible complexity, what matters? What is meaningful? That is the question we asked ourselves. We wanted to create something that makes sense to people, something that is useful. Everything we do should allow people to live better,” said Prada.
Speaking after Prada’s men’s show in January, Miuccia Prada reiterated that she relishes the exchange of ideas with Simons, whom she has long called a friend. “We made the decision to collaborate, no one obliged us. So far, it’s good, we like [this collaboration].”