Prada’s presentation at Milan Men’s Fashion Week was a flawless study in the basics. Elegantly disheveled models swaggered down an impressive runway designed by architect Rem Koolhaas (the same designer behind the Prada Foundation). The set, which was a towering mock high-rise/ultra-modern bachelor pad, included holographic windows projecting lavish cityscapes.
From tailored ankle pants to classic menswear silhouettes, the models were the picture of sartorial perfection and proof that simplified menswear is indeed timeless. An unassuming gray crew-neck layered over a checkered button down with full-frontal ruffle (a la ‘70s prom) made for an interestingly textured yet still unfussy combination. Yet even in all its modesty the collection was far from austere.
Lengthy one and two-button suits juxtaposed severely cropped leather and golf jackets whose bold hues clashed enticingly against neutral pant pairings. The collection also playfully utilized splashes of color—an unexpected smattering of red along the collar of a two-button camel coat, or cleverly color-blocked square patches along the waistline of a cropped dusky purple jacket.
In short, Miuccia Prada’s effortless pairing of juxtaposing elements created a collection where the beauty was in the details.
Miuccia Prada is an Italian designer, best known for her eponymous label Prada and its secondary line Miu Miu.
Rem Koolhaas founded OMA in 1975 together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. He heads the work of both OMA and AMO, the research branch of OMA, operating in areas beyond the realm of architecture such as media, politics, renewable energy and fashion. Koolhaas has won several international awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000 and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2010 Venice Biennale. Koolhaas is a professor at Harvard University where he conducts the Project on the City.
