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Prada has always thrived on contradiction. And for Spring/Summer 2026, founder Miuccia Prada and her longtime collaborator Raf Simons leaned into this with a ready intensity during their Milan presentation. In a stripped-back Fondazione set—think bare concrete columns, sky-high ceilings and glossy orange floor—the creative duo offered a sharp, almost wry response to the “overload of contemporary culture” that permeates the current landscape.
“Everything is so hardcore in the world right now,” Simons remarked backstage. Their answer? Clothes that disrupt and defy expectation, delighting us with renewed perspective while filling a utilitarian gap.
Uniform, traditionally the most rigid of dress codes, was their starting point. Garments typically considered more on the severe side—boxy officers’ shirts, trousers with sharp pleats, V-neck sweaters—were subverted with Prada’s signature mischief. Crystals adorning crewneck collars, satin opera gloves scaling up military sleeves, taffeta puffball skirts peeking beneath raincoats and lived-in leather layered over raw silks. It was composed authority softened by eccentric flecks of glamour, a reminder of Prada’s enduring belief that clothes, like our aptitude for dressing, should never be pigeon-holed.
True to style, the real thrill lay in the oddities. Skirts Frankensteined together with mismatched fabrics, one side erupting in ruffles and the other in delicate lace. Suspender skirts that hovered away from the body, exposing midriffs between crop tops and pocketed bloomer shorts. Lingerie was again reimagined, this time with a focus on the bra. First stripped of conventional support, silhouettes were later reduced to mere outlines, loosely floating around torsos like ghost garments.
Elsewhere, embroidered crests adorning deep-cut necklines and slack pinafore dresses thrown over crisp sets further emphasised a story of bourgeoisie rebellion and unorthodox styling—fitting fashion for a world gone mad. As always, the off-kilter balance between utility and frivolity held true, and urged us to reconsider what we know.
In an era when Prada’s distinct lexicon seems to be everywhere, the original remains elusive. Prada and Simons continue to stay ahead, demonstrating the timeless elegance of contradiction and reminding us that even in a time when liberties are increasingly stripped, the choice to get dressed, to create, and to buck against conventions remains ours.
