The minutes after a Prada show are always a guessing game: What was Muiccia Prada trying to tell us? How does she want us to get dressed next season, and, more existentially, what does it all mean?
This wasn’t one of those splashy see-it-all-over-the-internet (and then at Zara) kinds of collections from Prada. (Though you will most likely see it at Zara.) It was subtle but no less masterful. From a set hung with pallid yellow plexiglass light fixtures emerged a collection of mostly suits with a distinctly Mod flair.
Here, five style lessons we gleaned from the collection.
1. Embrace the Power of a Suit
There’s a certain power and an ease that a suit affords. Hey, it’s probably why men have been wearing them for hundreds of years. This season Muiccia Prada gave us her version of the power suit: it’s boxy, the jacket hovers right over the hip, and the skirt falls straight to the knee. Though just because it’s a boxy suit doesn’t mean it’s boring. These offerings were graphic and textured, with skirts comprised of blocks of tweed or glossy stripes with flaps and slits that swung open with every step.
2. The new bold lip is a gold lip
Makeup artist Pat McGrath kept the models’ makeup quite bare save for shimmering gold lips. This isn’t a trend to wear with your power suit to your next board meeting, but it sure did make an impact on the runway.
3. Accessorize with abandon
After the lips, you couldn’t miss the earrings: big geometric pom-poms swung from the ears of every model. It’s official: Dangly earrings are back you guys.
4. Skip heels in favor of ballet flats
It’s not that Prada didn’t show several gorgeous must-have heels. But the ballet flats—two-toned pointy-toe creations with ties over the foot and around the ankle, and finished with a big shiny silver ball at the toe—were the scene stealers. Flats can be fancy too. Not to mention comfortable.
5. As long as the silhouette is simple, pile on the prints and layers
While Prada kept the silhouettes of her suits and dresses fairly straight forward, she piled on layers of prints and textures, including tweeds, stripes, and delicate paillettes. Most looks were teamed with a kind of honeycomb lace dickey at the neck. “What is that thing?” I found myself asking. Who knows. It just looked cool. And that’s the power of Prada.
Courtesy : Leah Chernikoff (ELLE)
