Prada S/S 05 Milan

[Nader]

For some reason, I really love Stam's look here

 

[BrothaG]

There's a trashy vibe in this collection

 

[oceanharlot]

Very... That 70's Show. Love the peacock skirt.

Its not up on style.com yet though, so I can't comment on the wholoe collection.

 

[brian]

Originally posted by metal-on-metal@Sep 29 2004, 04:01 PM
I like this. Prada was getting too 'housewife' and formulaic. With this collection, it's going back to it's more avant-garde 'weird' roots. This collection kinda reminds me of her spring 1996 'ugly chic' show, (more in the spirit of the clothes than the actual pieces) which was a big controversy at the time. But if you look at those clothes now, they look totally mainstream and normal--'safe' even. Maybe in eight years time, this stuff will seem totally normal.

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agreed!! and that's the collection i was referring to...

 

[Lena]

Originally posted by plasticine20@Sep 30 2004, 12:38 AM
I guess I'm one of the few who likes it

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you are not alone plasticine
and yes, it's going to fly out of her stores.
She's certainly getting over the Marni influence
and yes, like everyone else noted, she's been browsing her archives

 

[Lena]

the wwd Prada review

Prada: Miuccia Prada is the most exciting designer working in fashion today — and probably the gutsiest. Her impact over the past decade has been incalculable, with no competitor able to close in on her particular turf. One reason is that if a fashion designer can be even part artist, Prada is. At the same time, for all her otherworldly, tiara-wearing iconoclasm, she has a remarkable cultural intuition with a velvet-gloved finger positioned firmly on the pulse. Hardly content to create high-minded, wearable art on a fashion island, Prada instead manipulates her artistic sensibility for commercial purposes. Hence the amazing installation that greeted guests arriving at her show on Wednesday: enormous screens along two walls, flashing projected images and news tickers parodying current events with a combination of real and distorted information. The work, a collaboration between Prada and Rem Koolhaas’ AMO, was designed for her Los Angeles Epicenter in the unabashed interests of empire-building. And, as everybody knows, it’s some kind of empire.

That’s because the merch — from the wear-everyday cashmere sweaters to highly embellished skirts to robotic Gumby key chains — is fabulous, and because Prada knows when to say when. So excuse her for moving on from her recent fragile, feminine eccentricity that has so inspired designers the world over. Now, she’s on to something sportier, a look with its own plentiful peculiarities in an apparently grounded package — and only she could pull it off so masterfully. “This is how to dress for life,” Prada said after the show. “We are living in the middle of the world. The collection is done for living now.”

Touché. Prada has always maintained that her past informs her present, which is why she started her vintage reissues at retail. It’s also why this collection borrowed obviously from past efforts in little decorative mirrors and, more importantly, in the emergence of a now-fresh silhouette, unfussy and short, with an emphasis on tailoring. It harkened to her Geek Chic moment back when, which may be why she signed on one of her long-ago models, Kristin McMenamy , to open the show.

Still, the mannish cuts revealed in, for example, a jacket belted over a striped sweater and sensible shorts, were only the start of Prada’s new, antifragile attitude. She also loves a clean-cut shift and fuller dresses, worn most often with terrific flat sandals. She worked these in sturdy, high-interest fabrics — burlap; intriguing photo prints — colored from the rich, earthen palette of a dark fairy tale. And, while she started out with relative austerity, she built up to a crescendo of decoration that involved weighty jewelry, embroidery, appliqués and some major bird imagery. This ranged from a snappy shift with parrot appliqué to a Leda-and-the-swan-neck dress that rang a distant Björk bell (without looking foolish), to a frock fashioned quite remarkably from a bounty of peacock feathers.

Individually, the clothes looked great. As a collection, they indicate Prada’s readiness to lead fashion away from its current preoccupation with froth. In fact, she chose the aviary motif because, she said, birds represent “beauty, vanity, strength, freedom and warriors.” All, perhaps, a reflection of how Prada sees herself, and why she is so fearless.

it's the departure from 'the froth' is what made this collection appealing to me, Milano & London were too sweety sweet and girly, i already need some stronger, simplyfied looks, something less girly

 

[prixi]

 

[Dixie]

I love the clothes, but the models do look dead and scary.

 

[purplelucrezia]

I found most of it pretty ugly, to be honest, but I did like this coat.
And I think that "dead" look's kind of cool myself...

 

[faust]

Originally posted by softgrey@Sep 29 2004, 03:09 PM
well...for me...this is standard prada...i never like it...the last two collections were something of an anomoly for me...because i actually liked them quite a bit...i knew it couldn't last forever...i was expecting a bit of a slip ...to be frank...

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my sentiments, word for word!

 

[metal-on-metal]

So after seeing everything at style.com, I have to say I love this show. Finally someone to break that horrible 'ladylike' mold! And the fact that she brought back Kristen McMenamy is so wonderful to me--and so fitting for this collection. One of the most perfect and beautiful models of all time.

I like this show because her past two or three collections were getting a little bit too 'easy'. Too many gimmicks and accessories and too simple to digest. This is strong, this is ugly, this is new. I like it.

 

[gogopilgrim]

the first word that came to mind when I saw this collection was "dreich"... but bits and pieces are beginning to grow on me

 

[macchiom]

Beautiful collection.

Perhaps not her best, but you can’t really expect her to outclass herself every single time.

 

[mikeijames]

Originally posted by Lena@Sep 30 2004, 02:22 AM
and yes, it's going to fly out of her stores.

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i certainly agree about the commercial success of this collection...as in days old, prada pieces have such a personality about them that they carry an outfit without overwhelming it (i think of the above posted blazer and necklace with a basic tank, jeans of the moment and quiet three and a half inch sandals)

 

[smashinfashion]

after looking at the whole collection on style.com i have come to the conclusion that this is hideous. ladylike may already be passe, but that doesnt excuse flat out ugly.

 

[faust]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Sep 30 2004, 09:45 AM
i certainly agree about the commercial success of this collection...as in days old, prada pieces have such a personality about them that they carry an outfit without overwhelming it (i think of the above posted blazer and necklace with a basic tank, jeans of the moment and quiet three and a half inch sandals)

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I don't think a commercial success is a good measure of judgement for certain houses. Prada, LV, Gucci, etc. will always sell.

 

[Mettchen]

i like a lot of it but i must admit that i find all of the hats to be pure uglyness - they're horrible!

 

[helena]

some of it i think is nice some of it I don't like. I don't like the skirt length. I don't really like the colours. i can't imagine this is going to be as influential as the last two seasons. she is such a funny mix of super commerial but also wanting to be cutting edge & make intellectual fashion. In a way I don't understand her....

 

[softgrey]

thanks for the review lena and for the pics of the 96 collection m-o-m...

i still hate it...

i'm not trying to look ugly...that's why i don't call myself goth either...because i'm not trying to scare people or make myself unattractive in order to make some sort of statement...i'm trying to find and create beauty in this ugly world we live in..not contribute to the ugliness...

but that's just me...

 

[metal-on-metal]

Suzy loves Prada. But then again, what else is new?

Prada flies ahead of the flock

Suzy Menkes IHT

Thursday, September 30, 2004

In a powerful collection inspired by avian feather finery, Miuccia Prada proved on Wednesday why she swoops and soars so far ahead of the pack.

Her noble world of birds, from pheasant feather hats to peacock plumes on skirts gave an eerie beauty to simple, quintessentially Prada clothes. But this was no homage to nature. The clothes were linear, sophisticated and intriguing in their embellishment, from crochet work through photo prints of feathers.

"Birds for happiness, for courage, for beauty and strength," said Prada backstage as the models preened in feathery upturned bucket hats.

After last season's foray into historical, Central European decoration, this show was ultra-refined, with only appliqués of abstract birds, a curling swan's head or a swarm of fireflies on the front of the simple, graphic dresses.

Textures were subtle as Prada showed boxy polo sweaters or striped knits with pleated skirts that might have a bedraggled feathery surface. Shades of brown mingling with greens, purple and orange created an aviary of imaginative tones that spread to simple leather bags, flat wooden-bead necklace or a pair of crochet slippers. The result was a show that took a theme and absorbed it beautifully into real clothing for a forceful modern woman.