Prada Women’s Fall 2025: LBDs for Dark Times
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons think long and deeply about what makes sense for women to wear today — with Simons also having one eye on the future.
However, crystallizing today into clothes becomes something of a chore when today basically sucks.
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“To work in this difficult moment is really tough,” Prada said during the backstage scrum, suggesting that a black dress is “very much today. So that’s the mood that’s around. We are in a very black moment.”
Theirs aren’t your typical LBDs, cut from a very dark herringbone fabric in roomy sack shapes, the edges left raw, and big, covered buttons or little fabric bows placed here and there winking back to more optimistic times in the mid 20th century. Some LBDs were reduced to mere fabric tubes cinched loosely over the bust.
Simons argued that the “idea of feminine beauty in fashion very often results in sculptural designs,” and so they decided to reject such constructions and leave the body free.
Amid a surfeit of quiet luxury and minimalism, “we kind of want to push a bit harder and try different things,” Simons said. “Liberation always comes with risk-taking.”
There was a spontaneous, nearly primitive feel to many of designs, rarely cut to flatter. Prada and Simons reprised some of the caveman elements from their fall menswear show, though these faux fur collars were less ragged.
Pajamas and boxer shorts, also an element in the men’s show, became loose skirts that seemed barely anchored to the waist. Sweaters were long, loose and occasionally lumpy.
As with men’s, outerwear was the star category here, some of the short coats fronted with peak lapels and patches of shearling; others in plain gray felts and flannels purposely creased.
While other runways in Milan are parading long, romantic fit-and-flare coats, Prada’s were mainly boxy, revealing bare legs ending in pointy stilettos with a fin of unfinished leather protruding from the toe box.
To booming, dystopian techno, models whisked through the set of scaffolding, incongruously carpeted with Art Nouveau patterns. Their hair was purposely frazzled; their expressions stern.
During a tough time for fashion, it’s interesting to see some brands gravitate toward obvious signposts of luxury, and Prada rooting around in raw, unvarnished territory. To be sure, this collection did not register as highly commercial, the handbags and shoes did not bring much joy.
Prada and Simons prefer to ask questions because they don’t have all the answers. Their slogan seems to be: Keep Calm and Resist How You Can.
“Every single morning, you read the newspaper and you want to commit suicide,” Prada remarked, answering a question about today’s political, economic and social climate. “To keep up hope is a big effort. I think that the only thing we can do — because it’s not our role to protest, and I don’t want to be political — is to work hard, work very seriously, and do seriously what you have to do.”
Launch Gallery: Prada Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection
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