Milan Fashion Week: Prada's Show Unveils 1940s-Inspired Tailoring, Embracing Liberation Over Constriction
Prada's Spring-Summer 2024 menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week successfully blurred the boundaries of traditional tailoring, embracing fluidity and liberation for the male form.
The architecture at Prada's showroom changes with each season, but never as dramatically as for Spring-Summer 2024 menswear, according to news agency AP. The exhibit was viewed through a wall of clear falling slime, a type of fluid architecture that gathered in piles of green foam on the metallic grate runway. The kinetic architecture served as a metaphor for a collection meant to express the fluidity of menswear.
Prada Unleashes Fluidity In Menswear Collection
In a captivating display of fluid architecture, Prada's Spring-Summer 2024 menswear collection took center stage at Milan Fashion Week. The brand's showroom underwent a mesmerising transformation, with a wall of clear falling slime serving as a dynamic backdrop, symbolising the collection's exploration of fluidity in menswear.
The concept of fluidity was at the forefront of co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons' vision. Their aim was to animate the male form without constriction, offering a liberating take on 1940s workwear tailoring.
Key elements of the collection included the white shirt, mid-thigh shorts, black socks, and thick-soled shiny loafers. Emphasising a sense of authenticity, the designers incorporated jeans, blazers, raincoats, and a reporter's vest that could be layered to create diverse looks. Soft leather bags with decorative pockets complemented the ensemble.
The textiles used in the collection were exceptionally lightweight, allowing for a seamless tucking of button-down shirts or jackets into gathered-waist shorts. The overall silhouette celebrated an idealised male form, featuring broad shoulders and a narrow waist, while providing ample freedom of movement.
Raf Simons explained, "We were very interested to see how we could liberate that, in the sense you had a lot of freedom to move," news agency AP quoted Simons as saying. This sentiment was evident in the incorporation of Hawaiian-inspired prints, featuring sci-fi dragons adorned with cascading fringe to create a dynamic sense of motion. The functional pockets on the reporter's vest took on a more decorative role, adding an element of flair to the overall aesthetic.
To complete the looks, molded eyewear and headbands were introduced, further enhancing the collection's kinetic energy and sense of forward motion.
Prada's Spring-Summer 2024 menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week successfully blurred the boundaries of traditional tailoring, embracing fluidity and liberation for the male form. The visionary collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons showcased their unwavering commitment to pushing creative boundaries, while simultaneously redefining contemporary menswear.
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