Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Dress code (r)evolution<br />
Prada autumn-winter 2013<br />
By moniCA CAmozzi<br />
144<br />
The time archive opens. And out come evocations,<br />
snapshots, glimpses of the imaginary, dormant<br />
but timeless. As always Prada is a step ahead<br />
of the surge of collective feeling. The strong forties<br />
feel which has swept over women’s clothing, full<br />
of aggressive archetypes and prosaic discoveries,<br />
has found its perfect expression in the Prada<br />
autumn-winter catwalk collection. It is a cauldron<br />
of ideas which ably selects the elements which<br />
are capable of bringing unity to the collection: at<br />
times infused with pictorial, expressionist colour,<br />
at times with nuances of nostalgia for the Hollywood<br />
Fifties and at others pervaded with flashes<br />
of maximalism magnified by shining gold couture<br />
dresses. There are hints of new look in the high<br />
waists, tight belts and flared skirts which remind<br />
us of Brigitte Bardot on the cover of Elle in the<br />
1950s at the height of Vichy fashion with checks<br />
as a constant theme on the catwalks and all over<br />
hour glass dresses and long A-line coats. But noth-<br />
ing is simply taken from the past without reworking,<br />
without the clear and unmistakeable sign of<br />
style on every outfit. The teal coloured suits in<br />
heavy cloths are wonderful with their slim fit jackets<br />
and sleeves or in glacé tweed and looking as<br />
if they’ve been stolen from a Rothko painting. The<br />
Prada woman is skilfully unconventional alternating<br />
retro temptations with total leather looks, narrow<br />
shouldered 1970s jackets and three quarter<br />
length trousers to be worn with moccasins. It is an<br />
imperative femininity prompted by determinedly<br />
seductive, intellectual and subtle instincts. Fabrics<br />
give structure to irregular hems and tight fitting<br />
bodices with dropped shoulders in wide, in-depth<br />
stripes on a herringbone texture. The iconic image<br />
is still that of the black V-neck jersey, Joan Crawford<br />
style, with a wide cherry coloured skirt and<br />
micro-check overcoat with a digital sequence.<br />
Looking through the past, to go inside the future.<br />
www.prada.com<br />
THE ACCENTUATED<br />
WAISTLINE, THE LONGUETTE,<br />
THE EXPRESSION DENOTING<br />
FEMININITy TEMPERED<br />
By INTELLECT.<br />
THE pRAdA WOMAN EXUDES<br />
A VIGOR THAT TAKES<br />
THE SyMBOLS OF THE PAST<br />
AND PROCESSES THEM LIKE<br />
A SOFTWARE PROGRAM,<br />
BRINGING THEM UP TO DATE.<br />
THE NEW SANDAL CONCEPT<br />
IS OVERSIzE, WITH A SQUARE<br />
HEEL. DECISIVE.<br />
145
Change language