The skirt as an object. For the Prada Spring/Summer 2027 collection, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons focus on the analysis of this single, universal garment through protean variations.
Designed for freedom, at once autonomous and interdependent with the clothes around it, the skirt is a true obsession for Prada. Its defined, linear and modernist graphic silhouette offers the only fixed parameter for the projection of ideas. The collection chooses to concentrate on the formal language of this specific skirt: an exercise in exploration within strict parameters, the frame for creation without limits.
Purpose and use form an aesthetic language of their own at Prada. Velcro in contrasting colours can serve as a base for crystal embroidery without losing its intrinsic function as a fastening element, allowing the skirts to adapt, mould themselves, change shape and alter their visual effect as the decorations are revealed or concealed. Large metal press studs are embellished with jewels, while the inner crinoline component becomes a decorative layer or a protective shell.
Materials directly transform perception, challenging and overturning an established formal language. Industrial fabrics – matte ciré, Re-Nylon – are illogically rendered in pleats, while cotton is treated to resemble leather or suede. Jewel skirts recreate crystal guipure lace, while simple, innocent floral prints appear on cotton and synthetic fabrics. A pleated skirt extends beyond the body, the loose fabric held in the hand, redefining the gesture. The layers evoke a dynamic of revelation.
Likewise, our perception of a garment can change through the contrast it creates with others. A skirt can become an abstract element, a fragment of a whole, establishing a shifting relationship with the garments it is paired with: a sweater, a shirt, a bra top can suggest alternative readings of the ensemble.
Here, intrinsic beauty lies in observing what is familiar, in asking how many forms a known thing can take, how many different possibilities it contains within itself.
