Tuesday, October 20, 2009

At Prada, couture meets trash!

Creator: Miuccia Prada


Show: Spring Summer 2010 RTW (Women)

Date Held: Sept 24th 2009

Place: Via Fogazzaro, 36
- Milano

Inspiration: Italian architecture - doorways in streets, chandeliers and marble floors juxtaposed with touristy beach scenes reflecting the highs and lows of life.

Color Palette: Primarily black, gray and white with a bit of yellow, blue and purple coloring the prints

Collection's Composition:
Fly away jackets and bermudas in steel gray with raw edges, knickers in burgundy, green, white or silver, waistcoats crossed over at the front, rose printed coats on black silk, beach scene complete with palm trees, sand, clouds and people in beach loungers printed on silk blended with nylon strands and constructed into sleeveless dresses, jackets, mini skirts and cycling shorts, floaty halter tops, and white stretch cotton T-shirts and briefs worn under jangling layers of hinged clear plastic beads resembling chandelier crystals

Pièces de résistance:


Accessories: Crystal belts, bags in clear plastic at times embellished with crystals, Perspex and PVC stack-heel sandals and pointed toe pumps in clear plastic with some sandals spilling crystals from the heels and the vamp, over sized clear plastic goggles


Philosophy behind collection: Miuccia wanted to send out a message relevant to the recessionary times we live in by projecting life as a mixed bag of joys and sorrows. Her message was expressed by contrasting steel grey blazers and cycling shorts symbolising hard work and endurance with beach scene printed dresses and knickers signifying good times and leisure. The collection also projected a "rich contaminated with poverty" feeling with raw unfinished hemlines, short knickers and plain cotton t-shirts adorned with crystals.

Targeted Buyers: The entire collection has a youngish look, focusing on young women with a daring alternate sense of style, although the long jackets in either steel gray or beach scene prints could adorn women like Anna Wintour.In short, only for the fashion crowd!

High Points: The proportions of the jackets seemed fresh, the other strong point being the beautifully executed "picture post card" like beach scene printed dresses, the transparent thick plastic frames are this season's IT glasses bound to adorn many a fashionista's eyes.

Low Points: Though the idea of expressing trashy elements(plastic bags, raw hems) through couture fabrics seemed a novel idea, the translation that ensued was weak, contrived and too direct. The collection was not overtly stunning largely due to the lack of variety in the collection which heavily focused on knickers and shorts with almost nothing appearing below the knee. Many of the elements like unfinished hems, clear plastic bags and shoes, crystal embellished dresses have already been seen much too often to evoke any sense of shock or surprise. The plastic shoes and bags without the "Prada" tag could sit for ages on a retailer's rack and go unnoticed!

Image Source:www.catwalking.com www.style.com

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