April 9, 2025 |
Call it cultural chaos theory, or a high fashion-era shuffle, but Prada’s SS25 show had it all. A deliberately bonkers mix of heavy-duty BDSM leathers jangling with rings, demure pussy-bow blouses, flamboyant cowgirl fringing, sharp space-age silhouettes and bourgeois Sixties tweeds trimmed with (faux) fur – all vied for attention. It was a cacophony of style and savoir-faire, with many looks literally heaving with the Prada atelier’s famed craft work.
One piece in particular, Look 45, summed up the radical, non-sequitur styling approach. A gleaming silver sequin-and-mirror-embroidered dress, it was worn with a bright yellow cagoule and a bug-eyed bucket hat made inexplicably in rustic raffia.
After the show, the co-creative directors, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, explained that the jolting randomness of the looks was a comment on the flattening effect of algorithms which push the same things towards us in endless repetition. The same but slightly different? Not at Prada. The circle jerk of algorithmic likes was well and truly broken.
“We wanted to show there are many ways of being Prada,” said Mrs Prada of her and Simons’s process. “Today is a period of endless information, driven by algorithms where each person sees their own version of the present, their own reality curated for them.” She added, “We wanted not to critique but to engage with this idea, to open a dialogue inspired by our cultural moment. We examine its core meaning and find our own reactions – the idea of choice, of unpredictability, as a measure of human creativity, of Prada for each individual.”
It was a bold move that paid off handsomely. What stood out was the singular appeal of many of the pieces, whether that was a great leopard-print coat, vintage-look suede jacket or an oh-so-Prada pleated skirt hung from heavy duty metal loops attached to belts.
Meanwhile, a flurry of reissued archival shoes amped up the excitement in the room: flat leather criss-cross sandals first seen in SS96, striped heels from AW08, platform espadrille oxfords from SS11 and the rubber-dipped mary jane heels of AW12. We were well and truly triggered. But the star of the show was that spectacular silver dress. When it blazed down the runway, the audience was lost in looking. Featuring embroidered sequins, circular mirrors and three-dimensional faceted stones, it dazzled its way around the show space like a walking light sculpture.
For the designers, its creation was a labour of love. Onto a nearly weightless nude tulle, streams of silver sequins were attached with invisible thread, then Prada’s artisans got to work applying mirrored discs of varying sizes. These were circled with bejewelled crystal frames before the finished look was scattered with substantial faceted stones. The dress featured 2,700 embroidered elements, including 144 mirrors and more than 2,500 crystals of varying shapes and sizes.
Once the embroidery was complete, the dress was cut and shaped on the mannequin, where it ‘rested’ for four hours to ensure it took the shape before being lined, finished with ribbon tape and steamed in readiness for its wearer. At once substantial and delicate, the finished dress, with its 3D reflective embroideries, both emits and absorbs light to mesmerising effect. In a collection full of charismatic pieces, this one was supercharged. That was the idea, said Simons.
“We thought of each individual as a superhero with their own power, their own story. That reflects an idea of transformation – through your practice, your actions or through the clothes you wear. They’re all a means to express a message about your authority, your personal strength. They can transform your perception of yourself.”
Radical, rule-breaking and all the better for it, this Prada collection was remarkably intense. Taking you from zero to fashion hero in the time it takes to do up a zip, it was packed with pieces to collect and covet, including one scintillating, silver dress bathed in Super Trouper light.
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
PRADA: INFINITE PRESENT
Photographer VANINA SORRENTI
Fashion Editor SOPHIA NEOPHITOU
Text CLAUDIA CROFT
Model MELINDA KISS at Special Management
Hair HIROSHI MATSUSHITA using ORIBE
Make-up LUCIANO CHIARELLO at Julian Watson Agency
Digital operator MARTA GABRIELE
Photographer’s assistants GIACOMO DEMELLI and TOMMASO ZUCCHETTI
Fashion assistants ALICE BALDUCCI at Noob Agency, GEORGIA EDWARDS and SONYA MAZURYK
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU
Casting SIX WOLVES
Special thanks to Circus Studios
Clothing and accessories throughout by PRADA SS25
