Prada SS16

Miuccia Prada wasn’t in the building for last night’s Prada show. She sadly had to take leave as her aunt had passed away. In her absence, her right-hand man Fabio Zambernardi held the reins, but the Prada-isms that Mrs Prada has honed in on, time and time again, were defiantly present in maximum strength. You could say they were hammered home, even as Miuccia threw everything at her dressed to the nines renegade ladies-who-lunch. They sparkled. They shimmied. They revealed. They concealed. They might go from upper crust establishments to underground beatnik clubs. “Greatest Hits” feels like a pejorative term when used in the context of a Prada collection. With that said, when you can take ownership of such design traits as Miuccia does, then why wouldn’t you return to them repeatedly with renewed urgency. We break down the iconic makings of a Prada uniform that is anything but standardised.

DISPLACED FORMALITY

According to Zambernardi, who spoke backstage, Mrs Prada has become obsessed with suits. With a coy smile, he said, “She likes obsessions.” That of course doesn’t mean doing suits verbatim. In sheer Memphis-design patterned organzas, various check-ridden tweeds and stripy patent, the skirt suit was taken out of its formal context, especially when paired with deliberately naff 70s knitted tank tops. As the skittish soundtrack darted from Lydia Lunch’s “Lady Scarface” to “Cry me a River” to a rendition of “Gloomy Sunday” (also known as the “Hungarian Suicide Song”), so too did Miuccia skit skat from 50s well-to-do ladies to 60s go-go dancers and mods, with a touch of the flapper thrown in for good measure. Miuccia can probably subvert classicism in her sleep. The final deformalised flourish? The netted veils of a Sunday best hat removed and placed over the décolletage like a form of armour or a sign of rebellion.

“According to Zambernardi, who spoke backstage, Mrs Prada became obsessed with suits. With a coy smile, he said, ‘She likes obsessions’”

THE LOOK AT ME EARRINGS

In a section of the Impossible Conversations exhibition at the Met, comparing the work of Elsa Schiaparelli and Prada, there was a section called Neck Up/Knees Down, implying that Miuccia has a preoccupation with what goes on the feet. However last night, our eyes were also firmly on what was going on neck up as models sported giant spherical earrings that swung like hypnotic pendulums. Sometimes they’d be giant comet clusters of gems, sometimes geodesic spheres or circular spliced cutouts constructed out of plastic that Twiggy or Edie Sedgwick might have worn. If what was going on below the neck was a play on formal dress codes then above, it was about zany self-expression, coupled with a metallic gold lip, as shiny as Shirley Eaton’s in Goldfinger.

SHOW THOSE LEGS

Miuccia has always given good skirt game. Her touring exhibition, Waist Down was dedicated to this key component of her wardrobe, which she once described as her equivalent of a t-shirt. Last night, there wasn’t a single pair of trousers in sight. Instead, skirts fluttered and ruled – either as separates or as part of dropped waisted dresses. In sheer organza, underneath you could peer at visible Y-fronts. Miuccia is a master of subverting the connotations of a skirt – turning up or dialling down the femininity where appropriate. Here they both reveal and conceal with a whiff of sensuality.

THE ODDBALL SHOES

It ain’t a Prada show without a memorable motif of a shoe. Here the flats came with space-age silver baubles like those you’d find on Newton’s Cradle with black lace-up ribbons. Go go boots with metallic stripes were like an ode to the André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin era of fashion. Elegant heels tapered into a flat stub. They're the jolie laide relations to their well-mannered heels of the shoe world.

JINGLE JANGLE EMBELLISHMENT

More is never enough chez Prada and Miuccia has always made her clothes jingle and jangle with embellishment so that they are actually audible. Be it oversized sequins, plastic cut to look like feathers or giant gemstones – if it catches the eye, Miuccia has most likely used it. The circular pailettes letters that she favours were punched with holes and clustered around the shoulders like bunches of 7-inch records and also on the final passage of white organza dress coats in patterns that would befit a 1960s retro vision of the future.

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