Friday 23 August 2013

Reflecting on Prada for A/W 13

Here's a piece I wrote a few weeks ago that I forgot to post. I'm still so excited about this collection because I'm seeing it everywhere NOW. The influence that outstanding fashion design can have is incredible, and I get really excited watching people on the street develop trend in their own way.
It's also really good fun writing about a collection after having given it a few months to mature, as opposed to writing reports asap directly after a show.

Prada A/W 13



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One of the greatest shows of the A/W '13 season was Miuccia Prada's Ready-to-Wear collection - and for some, this success could simply be put down to just how truly wearable the looks she presented were. There was much to be recognized: the slug-sole shoe, along with the importance of the skirt length in each of the looks, attested to an almost trademark silhouette. However, what drove the collection far beyond her previous work was the transparency of emotion evident. A coherent, romantic narrative was central not only throughout the show but throughout every outfit,and the strength of this theme has only been made stronger as the season has developed over the summer and into the oncoming autumn trends.

Styled beautifully with limp, wet hair and a subtly stained lip, the normality of femininity was suggested further by the embellished grunge of the looks on offer. The neat suburban plaid and cinched waist combination featured heavily, but were undermined and juxtaposed by off-shoulder layering which only allowed the (almost) androgynous pin-up to come undone. The intriguing story behind the women (rather than the outfits) was was just as important as the garments themselves - and this drama elevated the collection into more than just fabric.

Throughout the summer - and especially during the current lead up to autumn and winter - looks initiated by Prada Fall '13 certainly seem to have quietly amounted into street-style and trend. This only lays testament to the easy, relaxed wearability of the collection as more than a selection of outfits, but as an attitude into which many people have come to understand and appreciate. The skirt length (in particular) looks to be a key feminine piece for the next few weeks and months, critically undermined by androgynous beauty or a tough coordination. This toughness was evident at Prada through a careful choice of material, but it is the emotional feel of this intriguing collection that has followed through from catwalk to street style. As far as collections go, that is a rather worthy achievement.