At Milan Fashion Week, Prada Redefines the Office Siren Aesthetic
Graphic by Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
At Milan Fashion Week, Italian fashion brand Prada gave audiences a taste of the Jolie-Laide look they’ve become known for.
Gracing the runway were raw-hem mini dresses, chunky sweaters and delicate glasses. Set under and around scaffolding, the show styles were reminiscent of work and efficiency. Almost all the models seemed clad for a very trendy office (it should be said the show seemed like a parade of outfits that could be worn by the house matriarch and co-creative Director, Miuccia Prada).
The show started and ended with a series of raw-hem dresses, in the middle going through a series of looks featuring bomber jackets, a few leather sets and some sweater T-shirts with dangling charms from the collar.
Prada’s all-star duo of Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, in their fifth year of partnership, has continued to keep things fresh at the Milanese staple. The show was diverse in its wearability.
On one end of the spectrum were wild looks like Look 32 which featured a giant fur blazer over a barely-there mini skirt. On the other end were looks like Look 27: a charcoal wool skirt-suit set, timeless and undeniably suited for a chic office environment.
Though fabrics and colors varied throughout the collection, some pieces seemed worlds apart (i.e. a lemon yellow halter crop top and leather paper bag shorts were both in the collection), and the beautifully crafted Italian leather goods tied the whole show together.
Suede and leather handbags in red, brown, black, white and olive green displayed a mastery of leather goods. The clutches, shoulder bags and mini-duffles are sure to give The Row’s Margaux bag a run for its money come Fall 2025. Additionally, the stilettos, toeless boots and the Mick Jagger-esque rugged tennis shoes also made for some major accessorizing moments.
Not only did the accessories exist within the leather-sphere, but also branched out to some high-design jewelry and glasses. Knit collars with big jewels as seen in Look 22 in combination with intricate metal-work earrings like that of Look 41 seemed to be from the closet of American art collector Peggy Guggenheim.
Simons and Prada also carried on the house’s (and its sister house, Miu Miu’s) legacy of “geek chic” or “librarian core.” Long gone is the “office siren” — the collection subverted sleek styles in favor of chunky knits and a-line wool mini dresses. One look most demonstrative of this style was Look 37, a wool mini skirt and asymmetrical button down featuring some rogue straps, not to mention frameless glasses and loafers worn by the model.
Though the collection incorporated bright florals and pops of yellow at times, it was quintessentially autumnal. The color palette mostly ranged in browns, whites, blacks and warm reds — save for the chartreuse fur-collared poncho of Look 42. Heavily incorporated were brown and black fur jackets, perfect for braving the Dolomites. Thick sweaters and leather skirts also set the scene for a chilly afternoon at the Pinacoteca di Brera.
The artistic silhouettes, rare despite Prada’s focus on “ugly fashion,” are an amazing reminder that in her approximate 50 years at the helm of Prada, Miuccia Prada (now with the accompaniment of Raf Simons) isn't giving in to conventionality any time soon.