Milan Fashion Week: Prada champions the skirt while Diesel hits the club
Prada kicked off Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday, presenting a collection of modernised skirts to a star-studded front row.
The collection featured skirts in various forms: grey and pleated; straight-cut in green or red; worn with a bra; covered in crinoline; featuring floral patterns; and layered under leather coats. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons “focused on questioning this unique and universal garment,” the brand explained.
The front row was filled with celebrities, including actresses Naomi Watts, Michelle Williams and Uma Thurman; Thai actor Win Metawin; Korean singer Jeong Jaehyun; and former American basketball player Dwyane Wade.
As is often the case at Prada, technology was concealed within the craftsmanship. Nylon was pleated to resemble cotton, cotton was treated to look like leather or suede, and velcro entered the luxury lexicon.
“The skirt is a contemporary object because it is flexible and adaptable. It invites contradiction,” commented Miuccia Prada in a statement following the show.
“Each skirt can also be completely reinvented by the person who wears it, through combinations and juxtapositions with other pieces. They can transform its meaning,” the designer emphasised.
Prada's spring/summer 2027 collection is both sensual and suitable for everyday wear. It is sometimes tinged with a nostalgia that, for some, borders on irony. This was seen in skirts embroidered with faux crystal flowers that clinked as the models, almost all in high heels, walked by.
This season, the brand also favoured the very slim, androgynous silhouettes that were a major talking point during the last men's fashion week in June.
Diesel followed on Tuesday afternoon with the final co-ed show from its creative director, Glenn Martens. His models looked as though they had just left a nightclub, wearing torn dresses and T-shirts held together by a few threads, their lipstick smudged around their mouths.
The Italian brand's signature jeans were partially overlaid with other fabrics on the sleeves and collar, connected by flame motifs. Denim micro-shorts were worn under a classic striped or white shirt.
The nightclub atmosphere extended to the audience, where dozens of performers from the Marseille-based collective La Horde danced and kissed passionately throughout the show.
Glenn Martens' successor at Diesel has not yet been announced. The Belgian designer will remain with the Diesel group at Maison Martin Margiela.
Meanwhile, Prada is inaugurating its new flagship store this week in its home city, within the prestigious Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where the brand was founded in 1913.
Spanning eight floors, the Milan-based group has added a new underground gallery, a museum and vast private salons to its existing boutiques, patisserie and contemporary art space.
The aim is to cater to affluent clients shopping in Milan, host events and strengthen the brand's image.