Day three of Milan Fashion Week saw editors shrug off their hangovers with a stellar Prada show. Didn’t land a spot on the front row? Don’t panic. Here’s everything you need to know about Mrs. P and Raf’s AW24 menswear collection.

YOU BETTER LEARN HOW TO TIE A TIE

On Friday, Gucci dropped a series of looks that incorporated slinky silk ties, and now Prada has hammered home the idea that the classic neck accoutrement is hot for 2024, after it sent a slim maroon number out to editors as its invitation to today’s show. As the fashion masses made their way into the showspace – as ever taking place at the Fondazione Prada HQ – exactly why quickly became clear.

OFFICE ON A SUNDAY? ONLY FOR PRADA

Grim brown carpets and blue wall dividers sectioned off office cubicles complete with desktop computers bearing the Prada logo, with guests taking their seats on naff grey swivel chairs that provided little to no back support (so far, so HR nightmare). The runway itself was a glass floor, under which tufts of grass grew and a babbling brook spluttered across smooth stones. It was humdrum artifice on top of idyllic nature, perhaps in reference to the daydreaming of escape we all do while trapped in our 9-5s. There was also a touch of the apocalyptic to it: how long would it take for flora and fauna to reclaim the man made when all the humans are gone? 

MRS. P KNOWS HOW TO PUT ON A FROW

As the coolest show on the calendar, Prada always attracts the cream of the crop, and this season was no exception. Hollywood A-listers Jake Gyllenhaal and Lakeith Stanfield both cut mysterious figures in dark sunnies, while fellow actors Manu Rios, Damson Idris, and John David Washington weren’t far behind. Mean Girls’ new heartthrob Christopher Briney also made an appearance, while James McAvoy, Paapa Essiedu and Luther Ford flew the flag for the Brits. Also dropping by was actor Louis Patridge – who came in a duck-egg fisherman’s vest from SS24 – brand ambassador Metawin, plus current campaign star Troye Sivan.

OFFICE AND ECOSPHERE COLLIDED ON THE CATWALK

As the co-designers stated before the show, the eco-office setting demonstrated “the paradoxical dichotomy between these two coexisting worlds”, and when the first model sauntered onto the catwalk, we got a hint of what this might mean. An everyday office outfit – complete with patent leather derbys and a city banker’s shirt – was the first look to materialise, but it came with the singular addition of a scarlet swim cap. Next up were a set of outsized, sooty suits, topped by the same swimmer’s headgear, but this time in indigo and lime. After the appearance of some suspiciously goggle-esque eyewear, it was clear the collection might be hinting at the wild swimmers in all of us, hauled up in our offices and raring to be set free.

As those flat, grey suits morphed into ones of textured sand – and office-inappropriate gladiator sandals began to replace the derbys – signs of the outside world started to trickle in. A selection of silky shirts and grandma cardis gave the office some genderfluid flair, while knitted sailor caps began to appear in lavender and brown. Otherwise, the swim caps mostly stayed on heads, only sometimes expanding to balaclavas and encasing the wearer’s chin, while woollen worker jackets and double-breasted shearling also came out to swamp their frames. After a quick Canadian tuxedo or two – maybe the sign of a more relaxed office? – the Joseph Beuys suits returned to the fray, before a sea of bobbing swimmers reappeared for their final victory lap.

A PRADA TAKE ON THE BOHO DISC BELT?

The humble disc belt may have found a new audience of boho girlies in 2023, but Mrs. P and Raf are here to put their own esoteric spin on it for the boys. Along with the caps, goggles and that classic tie, the brand new accessory made its way onto the catwalk for AW24, looped round waists in white and canary. Made up of multiple interlocking triangles, the belt proved the label isn’t short of creative ways to incorporate its logo plate – but it also caused a little bit of a stir as well. As models’ hips swayed when they stepped, the triangles triggered a sort of optical illusion, rolling back and forth to give the impression of movement. Go-faster stripes? Or the steady flow of a babbling brook? We’ll leave this one up to you.

RENEW, REFRESH, REINVENT

When pressed on the collection’s inspiration, Mrs. Prada declared it was the “changing of seasons,” one that “enables human beings to continue to look at the world with fresh eyes.” She then went on to outline the influence of seasonal change on music and painting, before concluding that “fashion aspires to the same effect of renewal.” Mrs. P’s partner-in-crime also echoed the same sentiment. “The idea of renewal and change – like nature, natural rhythms. This inspired the clothes,” added Raf. “There is this idea of echoing surrounding, being influenced by environments in the garments themselves – office and nature, inside and out, the instinctive change of people shifting between these opposite spheres.”