Prada. One of the worlds top luxury brands. Also, the brand behind the show that never happened. The show consisted of five different video presentations, all different artists interpretations, making it feel like five different sets of eyes were sat watching in the audience. A normal show is filled with hundreds of people watching, and each person as their own perspective, so this is almost like the same show happening on five separate occasions.
Now we know that the various fashion weeks will happen again in September, the question is, what will people be expecting be expecting from fashion when the world returns to some normal? In an interview with Miuccia Prada she said that “people say ‘let’s have fun’. Of course, I understand the idea of having fun for one evening. I did it myself at home. My husband and son were in Tuscany, I was in Milan, there was a birthday and we put chandeliers on the table. But if you want to have a moment of distraction, of fun, it can’t be the whole thing in your life, at least for me. It’s not a contradiction, but the dominant feeling for me was more thinking, reflecting, something more intimate, human.”
During this lockdown we’ve all been doing a lot of thinking, Miuccia Prada included. Every creative person has gone back to that one big question: why? For Muccia Prada it was the joy that her job brings her creating meaningful clothes; “I wanted to work in an instinctive way. Intellectual honesty, let’s not pretend we’re different from what we are.” When looking at the clothes that were in the show that never happened, you can see how there is a tiny piece of Muccia Prada in each garment. Prada has often been criticised the most for changing their aesthetic up so much, Prada also recently did a digital project asking customers to define Prada; maybe that is what is so special about Prada, they have a set identity but are not afraid to experiment and push new boundaries.
Working with five different artists to create a show that never happened is a brand-new way for Muccia Prada to push those boundaries one more time. The way Willy Vanderperre emphasized the monochrome nature of the clothes in slow motion, complimented by an industrial background created by Juergan Teller’s film which had an emphasis on the textiles. Joanna Piotrowska then took the paradox of romance and utility Prada has been known for, along with a staged theatre created by Martine Syms with half naked models running around with the flash of a gold tooth. Terence Nance created a movie that used Prada’s Linea Rossa sportswear ending with gold foil fluttering and casting a golden glow on the models, creating an optimistic ending for the show that never happened.
For some this is a sad occasion at it is the last collection created by Muccia Prada before Raf Simons takes over the powerhouse that is Prada.