PRADA SS23 - A SPACE BETWEEN ARMOUR AND AMOUR.
A SERIES OF RUNWAY PIECES IN LONDON.
Unlined coat in cotton gingham with a hand knitted mohair triangle - From a selection of pieces from the Spring Summer 2023 menswear collection by Prada.
I find it hard to resist Prada, the name alone makes my heart beat faster, a style that protects while also invites - I think of that precise combination of elements - a design formula decided upon with the instinct of one pair of eyes and complimented by another - a language enunciated by one person and yet has been learnt by so many, emulated even - impersonated like an accent - and yet when you wear those pieces - all created with the knowing complexity of that particular point of view - there really is no replication.
The Prada aesthetic seems more exotic from a far, and yet when I visit Milan I understand more - because in fact these elements are not so distant from the identity of a specific generation of the cities residents - who do not, in fact work within fashion - nor I imagine care about it - an age of citizen who dress for comfort while remaining loyal to a certain mid century democratic uniform of task specific and weather sensitive - with a certain nostalgia of youth.
The pleasure of Prada is immediate - ideas so well realised in specificity that they are calm to the touch. The eye glides over their cut and form while looking for the particular combination of elements which define this rare species - firstly the colour - always so specific - reminiscent of that pre mentioned era while never feeling retro - then the fabric - again so precise - a tremulous language of touch - and of course the cut and construction - oblique in finish and yet such thought has been invested - to achieve that invisible quality which is more feeling than physical - more so when worn - where a mirror is not needed to know.
A single breasted raincoat cut from what appeared to be a checked linen table cloth has an almost ready made quality of a printed paper napkin - the immediacy of that pattern - triggers thoughts of a picnic blanket or table cloth - from a time I do not know, where an impromptu sense of the alfresco is worn with a straight face. Fellow gingham characters swing adjacently - cut out into a precise offering of raincoats, blouson jackets and neat shirts - characteristics of a gentleman’s wardrobe prevail with discreet intelligence - roomy raglan sleeves, wide top-stitched seams, placket fronts and pale horn buttons slot precisely through generous key hole button holes - all offer clues of cultural origins while the whimsy of that joyous check feels deliciously perverse in a time heavy with gloom.
And that triangle, affixed between the shoulder blades - this time hand-knitted in charcoal mohair - feels nostalgic even tender - a little amour - in an armoured uniform of now.
Prada, 16-18, OId Bond Street, London
Special Thanks Massimo