When Raf Simons was announced as co-creative director of Prada back in February, no one could have imagined that the fashion week in which he’d make his debut at the house would look quite like this. But the show must go on – and today that’s just what it did. Here’s what went down today at Prada’s SS21 Milan Fashion Week show.

PRADA SENT CARE PACKAGES

To all the absent FROW friends to let them know that they were being thought of. Continuing the food theme of yesterday’s Fendi pasta, goodie baskets from Milan’s Marchesi (which is owned by Prada) included Oolong tea and jams. Cute. 

THE SHOW HAPPENED DIGITALLY

Although plans for Raf and Miuccia’s debut had initially been for an IRL runway (which have been happening in COVID-secure ways – see Fendi’s show yesterday with its spaced-out audience) things were changed earlier in the month to a digital-first event.

BUT PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER TO WATCH IT GO DOWN

…with Prada viewing parties happening around the world. It started right on time, with models stepping into a carpeted, curtained space. Cameras followed them as they paced around the yellow room, each displaying their numbers (à la an old couture show) and names on monitors as they walked. Post-show, Miuccia Prada talked about how they wanted to reflect the importance of technology during lockdown in the show’s set up. The models also made eye contact with the cameras, adding a sense of the uncanny.

IT WAS FULL OF RAF-ISMS…AND PRADA-ISMS

The two designers are working as co-creative directors, so the show was a true meeting of minds. “An initial proposal, the first example of myriad possibilities, it propounds Prada as part of a dialogue between the different viewpoints of two collaborators,” noted the press notes, calling it “a fundamental examination of the meaning of Prada”, and referencing uniform dressing, which both designers have long explored. There were lots of plays on the house’s subverted bourgeois style, coats grasped around the chest (as Mrs Prada has been often photographed), and the re-use of archive prints from Prada’s SS96 collection. The word Prada was also stamped on turtlenecks – a classic Raf move, and graphic prints by past collaborator Peter de Potter referenced back to his own signature styles.

THE PRADA LOGO PLATE WAS CENTRAL

The little triangle logo with the brand’s name featured prominently throughout the collection, on bags (duh) but also as a motif on clothing and jewellery. There was even a Prada backpack – the house’s OG staple – given pride of place on the runway, and appeared built into cape-like garments.

RAF AND MRS PRADA ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS

The post-show interview is a well-known fashion week fixture, but with journalists sofa-bound this season Prada came up with an ingenious way to get some questions answered. Fans were invited to submit questions on Prada.com before the show, with Raf and MP sitting down to give everyone the details. “We’ve always been very interested in each other’s work,” Raf said by way of introduction, referencing his work at Jil Sander, then under the purview of Prada, which was the first time he designed womenswear. 

The two also discussed their working balance in response to a question asking whether this season saw them adding to or subtracting from the brand upon Raf’s arrival. “Both,” Miuccia responded. “For me, it’s a beginning. We don’t know where we are going, we are just beginning to work together”. “This show was about both, but we do not want to create for ourselves a specific way of working,” added Raf, confirming some seasons might swing more in Miuccia’s direction, which others will feel heavier with his influence. “It’s not necessarily about two worlds sliding together.” 

Other questions included a v cute submission from a ten-year-old aspiring fashion designer (“Study, study, study!” encouraged Miuccia), and another which asked the two designers what they drank in the morning, with Raf sheepishly revealing his coffee and Coke Zero habit. Sadly, however, we did not find out if he’d had a go on the Carsten Höller slide situated in Prada HQ. Next time, we hope.