Prada is typically all about curation. We know there is intention to its modernist assembly of fashion, no matter how simple or ordinary it may appear. And it all comes riddled with metaphors: a plain, ordinary T-shirt may serve its purpose as an unremarkable styling decision at most houses, but Prada is capable of making a similar T-shirt draw connections to specific subcultures and social commentaries. Some might call this the effect of “intelligent” fashion, an inflated term used by critics to single out fashion that exists beyond straightforward glamour, prestige and egotism, which Prada even had a hand in defining its meaning. Often, the house’s showing during fashion week becomes a discourse of co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons intent that season, giving way for discussions to make sense of what it means beyond a superficial appeal.
But nothing about this week’s showing of the Prada FW25 menswear collection has made sense yet. At least, not as ordered and measured as the collections the house has put out recently. It even reads like a plea for us to stop overthinking its meaning. And while the intent may be to be unintentional, this is the first Prada collection in years that feels chaotic, in the best way possible.
The collection resembled pieces you might find them hanging in a thrift store. Kitschy wallpaper prints drawn from your aunt’s kitchen and patchwork fur and leather that look put together from a rug were clashes that felt put together without an afterthought. Motifs in the Prada FW25 menswear collection such as a basketball pendant for an earring make sense and probably do not have a deeper meaning to it. And mismatched pieces styled together — such as a denim coat coexisting with a tuxedo jacket in one look — give a sense of the laid-back, an unpretentious assembly of things that can exist together if we’re all a little less uptight about how we approach fashion. Because maybe, it’s time we stop reading between the lines.
This article was first seen on Mens Folio Singapore.
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