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Prada (womens SS12) Milan

22 Sep 2011
Ready To Wear Spring Summer 2012 Milan

The mood board in the Prada design studio for the SS12 collection must have been a culture vulture’s delight. Where Céline’s AW11 collection took inspiration from cars, team Prada chose the same yet with their own twist today. Pastel shades from 1950s American diners took the lead on the runway but were given edge with inspiration from customised hot-rods and Thunderbird cars of the same era. Painted flames and buffed leather are sub-fetishes for devotees of 50s alternative culture and these elements appeared, to many a fast beating hearts delight, jutting out from the back of stiletto heels (see our 'close-ups' section for a better look). Are these shoes or objects of design? Shoe obsessives will argue works of art. Was the design team inspired by Thierry Mugler's motorcycle bodice? Whichever, the Thunderbird heels raised my pulse, they look like collector’s items and just mere seconds away from being worn by Beyoncé in a music video.

There’s so much to pilfer and forage from the 50s era, Prada could have gone busty cheese-cake blondes and slouching delinquents. In ambiance at least Muccia chose the route walked by David Lynch. The music and smoke motif on the runway suggested mystery and anticipation, the heels humour and danger while models walked past hard, buffed chrome grating. There were no quiffs, giant curls or red lips from the hair and make-up department, suggesting that Prada didn’t want this collection to fall into cliché or kitsch. Fashion students must have been surprised to see a luxury house send simple elasticated tube top’n’skirt combos down a runway, surely pattern making 101.

The winners here were the pleated, feminine dresses and skirts, especially the baby blues worn by models Caitlin Lomax, Romee Strijd and Jasmine Tooks. These came in both lightweight material that moved as the girls walked and buffed leather emulating car interiors. Prints appeared on silk day-coats, dresses and swimwear, the only element that didn’t grab much attention were this seasons bags. It’s a collection that had superpowers in some ways and was surprisingly plain in others. The showing of each new Prada collection is always an event that stretches onto the ad campaigns and the store presentations. This one should be fun.

www.prada.com

(words: Sarah Hay)