At Prada, A Savage Reminder Of Our Shared Humanity

In a Prada show, nothing is as it seems.

On first impressions, was this the time that the Italian House, currently helmed by co-conspirators Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, is finally addressing all things related to the Old West? Not exactly.

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At their show last night, held at Fondazione Prada in Milan and in front of a court that included the likes of House ambassadors like Kim Soo Hyun and Win Metawin, Prada and Simons sought to continue the conversation that they first started with the womenswear outing of spring/summer 2025 of our relationship with technology.

Where the womenswear collection aimed to push back against the idea of algorithmic dressing, the 60-odd menswear looks were to discuss the overreaching advent of AI within our daily lives. For Prada and Simons, their reaction to too much tech was a return to what defined us as living, breathing humans. “Primitive urges … natural and immediate gestures reflect our raw humanity” read the press notes, and when you set forth from this starting thought, it makes the collection that was laid out before us clearer to understand.

The Fondazione took on a slightly sinister feel for the show, especially when one thinks about it taking place on the eve of an all-important inauguration of one of the world’s superpowers. Over three floors, showgoers sat in huddled rows on faded Art Nouveau-styled carpeting, all held up by gleaming scaffolding rods.

Was this a wink-wink metaphor of the state of society: that we are all connected in some way, albeit fragile, and that it wouldn’t take more than a few actions and reverberations to bring it all tumbling down on all of us, regardless of creed or allegiance? Call it coincidence or whatever you want, but the showspace set the tone for what’s to come fashion-wise.

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It’s also worth noting that in the greater conversation of culture and where the world is headed, a rebound of conservativeness is happening. Social media is now rife with champions of masculinity in its hyper-exaggerated form. A return to tradition, to older values, to vigour and strength as synonyms of masculinity, and consciously or otherwise, Prada and Simons also found a way to evoke that conversation too. A leather patchworked suit here, giant fur collars that built the shoulder line out horizontally there, bowling bags that were aged to look as if it was passed from father to son—they were all expressions of traditional virility.

Yet, Prada and Simons aren’t just going to stop there, as they presented equally feminine accents in the form of the citrussy-coloured floral patterns, satin trousers and sinewy knits that clung to every curve of the model’s figure. Suits—once a marker of manhood—were present as expected, as were pyjama shirts in white poplin or faded plaid found its way back on the runway when worn with reed-thin tailoring. Colours largely erred on the side of darker neutrals with pops of grape, mint, pumpkin orange and tomato red.

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Cowboy couture made its way onto the Prada’s runway, but done in a way that felt native to Miuccia: yoked lines on sweaters and metal embellishments swinging on the neck lines of t-shirts in place of bolo ties. Many of the models also wore cowboy boots—first seen in 2023—and some had distressed denim on (in jeans or a coat) for good measure.

Pelts of fur (faux, of course) were worn as shrugs like our cavemen ancestors would, or patchworked and worn as a top on its own. Savage? Sure, but there was a dark sense of romance that came hand in hand with the untamed rawness. If society as a whole is too reliant on ChatGPT, then Prada’s response to this is to return to our roots from over thousands of centuries ago: where stone and wood were the primary tools and fire was celebrated as a heavenly gift.

Perhaps in the light of everything within and out of fashion, this is what Prada wants us to remember: our humanity is something to be treasured, celebrated, and bonded over.