You only wear a wedding dress once? Not so with Prada in autumn/winter 2023/24. Because the Italian trend label translated the dress for the most beautiful day in life into everyday wardrobe. Appropriately, the models of the collection shown at the Milan Fashion Week on Thursday afternoon walked into the finale to the sounds of Johann Strauss’ “Emperor’s Waltz”.
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the label’s creative duo, take over the skirt section from the wedding dresses, which is adorned with appliqués, three-dimensional ornaments or fringes. And combine them with a simple sweater, for example. Other influences come from the uniform, both military and civilian, such as nurses. They found their way onto the catwalk in the form of austere shirts and dresses, as well as parkas and duffle coats. Necklines are occasionally accentuated by contrasting collars, and some dresses have train details. Oversized shapes with padded areas and a pencil-slim line vary in the silhouettes.
“The collection was about acknowledging the different facets of beauty, discovering it in the everyday. And taking care of people like nurses do is a very beautiful thing,” Miuccia Prada explained in the collection’s caption.
Etro’s roots lie in fabrics and prints, most notably paisley. Marco De Vincenzo, the creative director of the Italian label, took up this tradition and transferred it to precise cuts and silhouettes. On Wednesday evening he showed, among other things, baggy dresses with coarse knits or androgynous trousers and vests in combination with silk blouses. Fringes on the hem of thick polo shirts and scarves, as well as blankets wrapped around light clothes, symbolize cosiness.
In the coming days, there will be other top-class Italian fashion items on the Milan Fashion Week programme. Among others, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Giorgio Armani will present their latest women’s collections. (dpa)