Milan Fashion Week: Prada SS17 review

Prada is one of the few brands who brings context to the ugly-chic
aesthetic, and its spring summer 2017 runway collection was no different.
If this collection was to be summed up in one item, it would have to be
the blouse: it came seventies-style with exaggerated collars, in contrast
florals, checks, ginghams, solids, stripes and sheers, proposed in hues of
brown, purple, cream and orange. Difficult colours you may say, but when
paired with bandeau tops in contrast fabric and colour, or worn with brown
fitted high-neck long-sleeves poking from underneath, it felt neither
outré or impossible.

There was no undertone of sex

There was no flesh on display, other than legs in short shorts. No
cleavage, no hint of the boudoir, no bare shoulders peeking from garments
undone, unless it was something layered and styled off-tilt. In fact, there
was no sex in this show, not even an erotic undertone if you were to search
for the meaning of one. Instead the clothes make the statement this season,
from the brightly coloured plastic sandals to the ostrich feather trim that
adorned dresses, accessories, Asian inspired jacket hems and the cuffs of
bejewelled trousers.

Colour galore, but less contrived styling

Retro graphics and checks mixed with pop florals formed a kaleidoscope of
print, but were polar opposite to Gucci’s bright and saccharine pairings.
Prada this season opted for less contrived styling – no socks in sandals,
for example – and the accoutrements were limited to accessories, with new
bag styles and colour chromatic belts and badges, the latter pinned at
overlaps and closures on jackets and skirts. Oddly the looks seemed a far
cry from Prada’s men’s SS17 show in June, with its wanderlust theme, models
trekking down the runway in backpacks, wearing copious layers of nylon,
zip-ups, sportswear and primary colour clashes.

Prada, as has been well documented, discussed and dissected, could do with
a seismic shift with this collection. Both its sales and image have seen
its tectonic plates stagnate, even if designer Miuccia Prada offers a
continuing source of intelligent fashion to the industry at large. Stellar
shows and intellectual themes do not, apparently, guarantee profit to
fashion businesses, no matter if the brand is steeped in history and a
ruling force of the Milanese runway. How well the collection is received at
retail will remain to be seen.

Photo credit: Prada SS17, Prada.com