The alien charm of the bourgeoisie in Prada's FW25

The interest in the bourgeoisie and bourgeois dressing has always reigned on the runways of Prada. A series of codes that are neither popular nor aristocratic, embodying moral and social values whose common vanishing point is a sense of stability and centering that is both aesthetic and cultural. The question that Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons seemed to ask themselves with Prada's FW25 women's collection was precisely about this centering: what would happen if it were shifted? How can a system of clothing, which is also a system of values, be disrupted? The answer came in the form of altered proportions, whimsical details like bows and oversized vintage buttons animated by an almost raw design, deliberately imperfect, where high-waisted skirts compress into folds, where classic and ethereal bow blouses turn into rigid leather jackets, where noble fur takes on proportions and cuts that exaggerate and abstract anatomy. As if the garments, with their unfinished hems and embellishments that, precisely because they were dated, appeared so intriguing, were alluding to the progressive decomposition of the bourgeoisie they represented, teetering on the edge of recognizability before signs and meanings crumble—a process of alienation that Prada often explores, this time with an almost sardonic tone, typical of Raf Simons' slightly dark and vaguely pessimistic intellectualism. The leitmotif of the collection was a 1960s dress, appearing in various iterations, falling boxy on the models' bodies, avoiding tracing their silhouette and almost distorting it through waist details seemingly placed deliberately lower, with a silhouette that, rather than elongating, drooped, from which, occasionally, a shirt with a rigorously disheveled collar emerged.

The sense of “rawness” that transformed the garments stemmed, as we mentioned, from the many raw hems of the skirts, the abrupt pleats that turned them into angular accordions, the open-toe loafers and boots, and the asymmetry of the pendants adorning (in a reference to the men's collection shown in January) the collars of jackets and sweaters. A series of garments decorated with lysergic floral prints and a massive fur coat covered by a layer of synthetic material had a distinctly Raf Simons-esque flavor, just as the studied and somewhat theatrical disarray of the draping brought a breath of Antwerp air into the meticulously ordered spaces of Milan’s Fondazione Prada—the same "Antwerp air" present in much of Demna’s work, which is nothing more than the legacy of patriarch Martin Margiela. Remnants of the brand’s Milanese identity, tightly held by the models in almost every look, were the handbags, adding a touch of delicacy and preciousness to a series of outfits that, through compressions, unexpected textures, and contracted silhouettes, seemed intent on dismantling and corroding the traits of a bon ton wardrobe that it nonetheless echoed. Yet also quintessentially Prada was that ever-affectionate gaze towards a more traditional and retro femininity, which was neither rejected, mocked, nor criticized, but simply reshaped according to a newer and more modern intuition. Far more typical in their classic Prada feel were the looks combining a shirt with contrasting trim, reminiscent of a silk pajama, with a mint-green skirt artfully crumpled, its pale color recalling the uniforms (this time, those of nurses) so beloved by Mrs. Prada—alongside a combination of a light, ethereal blouse paired with an almost sculptural skirt cut from the same leather as the matching handbag.

Beyond the strongly vintage soul of all the deconstructed garments with collars and oversized retro buttons, the dominant feeling on the runway was that of an altered normality—the knit dresses with little bows worn over jeans or slim-cut tailored trousers subverted a type of look (that of a long top over slim pants) quite typical of certain career-driven, mature women in less formal settings. But even the thick melange sweaters clashing with bow-adorned, button-covered skirts conveyed the sense of a woman with a complex and proudly displayed intellectuality—yet not for that reason any less consciously and ironically playful. In general, many tropes of formal dressing, with heavy wool suits, plaid or leather skirts, and coats with attached fur stoles, found new life through this series of irregular ruching, raised topstitching, and midi dresses deformed and distorted by looser constructions that rendered them almost abstract and conceptual. A recent trope, already seen in other forms at both Prada and Miu Miu, also made an appearance: the juxtaposition of a sporty, fitted, and youthful top—often extravagant—with trousers or a skirt featuring an emphatic sartorial rigidity. Likewise, other more or less subtle brand signatures appeared, such as the crinkled effect of the shirts and that intriguing coat whose buttons seemed to have been replaced by pearl pins, resembling clusters of grapes.