September 21, 2018 |
For Mrs Prada, fashion is a superlative mean of self expression for the wearer but also for the creator. She infuses her collections with meanings. If you don’t get the message but love the sweater, no matter what, it’s there for those who look. For SS19, Miuccia Prada wanted to reflect the clash of moral and ethical values at the heart of modern culture. “The whole thing for me was to discuss what’s happening in the world right now. We have the wish of freedom, liberation and fantasy and on the other side there is extreme conservatism coming,” she said after the show. “I wanted to try to represent the clash between these two opposites and what is happening in the world out there. So I tried to break the rules of the classic,” she stated.
In one corner, representing the counter culture and defence of liberal freedoms, there’s the tie-dye mini dresses and psychedelic prints. Satin A-line skirts and Bermuda shorts bore chaotic collages showing naked silhouettes of men and women in the landscape. In the opposite, conservative corner there was a parade of proper coats – the buttoned up variety that little girls in the 1950’s and 1960’s (or Princess Charlotte today) would wear as their Sunday best, with pop socks and a prim pair of Mary-Janes. The models also wore exaggerated versions of the quilted headbands beloved by the churchgoing conservative right. A country club favourite, the tennis skirt also featured as well as ladylike dresses which came in delicate transparencies, revealing big sexless knickers beneath. Prada said she looked at “all the cliches of the conservative world and I tried to break them.”
As she spoke, the deadpan drone of Warm Leatherette played over the speakers. Then she added, “I infiltrated the classic.” Interesting choice of words and nothing Prada says is by accident. She loves to use cliches against themselves to create something new and with this collection she pushed that idea to the max.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
