Prada Does Subversive Horror Heroines for Spring 2023
Amid the scenic, immersive film installation created in collaboration with Danish film director Nicolas Winding Refn (known for his films Drive and the Pusher trilogy) and the architectural creative think tank AMO, the first model from Prada’s spring 2023 collection stepped out in an oversized, boxy suit jacket with a form-fitting button down and skinny trousers to match.
If one wasn’t familiar with the action-packed, crime thriller dramas of Refn, the set for Prada’s spring 2023 collection could read as devotedly Hitchcockian with a little bit of Polanksi and De Palma thrown in. Yet, the idea behind the collaboration, titled “Touch of Crude” was deeply connected to the show’s theme of “Domestic Voyeurism” and modes of observation in different spaces.
Perhaps the chilling moments of opposition throughout the show, which was soundtracked by a horror synth tune by Cliff Martinez, is what best provided proof of concept.
We saw two sides of the Prada woman—the domesticated, private persona; and the outward-facing one. Blazer suiting that mimicked co-creative director Raf Simon’s ubiquitous bomber jacket in bulky shapes, coats with strong lines which models clasped together (as Miuccia herself often does), and leather suiting with angular backs and severe skirts represented the public-facing persona. The monochromatic onesies, sheer gowns with lace trimming, and sheer lurex knits represented the private life—hiding in the shadows as if in one of Refn’s films.
The amount of quiet yet conceptually splashy pieces that seemed to be pulled directly from cinematic tropes didn’t go unnoticed. The delicately sheer dresses and spider-like, upside-down lashes placed on models’ eyes were pure Rosemary’s Baby. The bright slip dresses and silk tube dresses that looked slightly off-kilter with folded, bunched-up hems could have been ripped from any classic horror flick. Villainous blazers with flowing trains were right for any noir-flick heroine, and floral rosettes pinned to little slip dresses like corsages looked like modern, albeit less gruesome, take on Carrie’s gown.
Purely pragmatic Prada-isms could be found throughout the collection, which felt intrinsically more intellectual than past seasons where Simons served as co-creative director. The immersive idea of hard and soft–of women as heroines, villains, doll-like figures, damsels in distress, and victims of voyeurism—came to life through tailoring that looked severe in the front and baggy in the back; raw black dresses whose undone hems may unravel any second; sheer silks and gauzy turtlenecks, piles of gossamer-like fabric and doll negligées layered over suiting. The primitive rawness of fabrics also recalled Prada’s spring 2009 collection in many ways.
The one thing that felt missing for the Prada purists were the prints. Here, we received only small doses—three to be exact, out of a collection of 55 looks—of papery, floral-patterned dresses with black slips peeking out. Still, Miuccia’s intellectual play on women and how they’re perceived through fashion is a gift, and it’s nice to see it still persevering with a male co-creative director at the helm.
