Any Thoughts on “New” Prada?

I use ” ” on new since it’s not really New Prada, but hey, it’s the closest to new that Prada has come. Feel like you have missed out on something here? To refresh your memory, Raf Simons was announced co-creative director of Prada, together with Miuccia Prada this February. At the time, nobody knew what was about to go down, pre-pandemic and everything. But show a Spring Summer collection for 2021 every brand must and so they did. Digitally, of course.

So how was the show?

Well, one could definitely see that something had changed. Signature Prada looks are always very geeky feminine, but in a way that feels cool and contemporary. That is my personal opinion although I know it hardly is unique. And those looks were really there this season too, but not throughout the collection because a new edge was added to it all. And with this, a new silhouette was presented, a much more abstract one. Maybe with this change, the dolly Prada woman has been lost and the new more rugged Prada woman been found?

Despite these changes, there was still so much Prada left in Prada. Fortunately. One of the Prada signature features that we have been spoiled with since forever are the many great original patterns. Flowers, geometrics, neon lighting and everything in between have embossed the collections throughout the years. This season? Not as much, but patterns were still present.

And knowing your Prada, you know how Miuccia loves to dig into the archives. I like to think that she and Raf did that together this time and found a pattern they both loved just as much; the green and brown square print pattern known from the Spring Summer 1996 collection.

The logos that Miuccia has a tendency to almost play with also had a part in the collection. But this too was presented in a new way, a little more technical. But this I must say is one of the (many) reasons I love Prada. Other brands I feel sometimes has a very complicated relationship with their brand profile and would never dream of experimenting with their logo in the way that Prada happily does every season. Their biggest scare is that that sort of communication would confuse the customer, but I feel different. I am amused by how relaxed her approach to it is.

So, is this what we all thought would happen in the merge of two such contemporary designers like Miuccia and Raf? Now that I have seen the full collection I realize this was quite near what I expected. Or wait no, I acutally had more knits in mind, but hey, it’s a spring collection. But what I really liked about the collection when it comes down to it, is that it really feels like Miuccia and Raf has spent a lot of time talking about Prada, the past, the future, the woman. And as a fan and customer (well, sometimes) I appreciate that.

Watch the full Prada Spring Summer 2021 collection here.