There's lots going on in the wonderful world of Prada.
Designer Miuccia Prada showcased her menswear collection for spring 2017 in Milan and it's much sportier than her recent efforts, with an emphasis on travel and ease. With colorful nylon zip-ups, backpacks and parachute pants, checked trousers and athletic leggings, it recalls an era when the now defunct Prada Sport brand existed and makes one wonder why it ever went away. But we could do without without the sandals and socks combo shown on the runway.
Prada sprinkled in her women's resort collection, which also features a lot of the same checked patterns, colorful nylon fabrics and map-print graphics as the menswear collection.
At the entrance to the show, Prada unveiled two new fragrance brands — La Femme Prada and L’Homme Prada — in a “mirrored box” space with two interlocking rooms — one black, one white — featuring walls composed of printed graphics, mirrors and video screens showing a new ad campaign.
To celebrate the new fragrance Miuccia Prada and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, hosted a private dinner at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, with more than 300 guests, including Jessica Chastain, Willem Dafoe and Giada Colagrande, Ansel Elgort, who stars in ads for the Prada men's fragrance, Milla Jovovich, Sasha Pivovarova, and former Dior designer Raf Simons.
Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne wasn't there, but he's the star of the new Prada fall menswear ad campaign in which he strikes a pose as hero, villain and revolutionary evoking 19th century neo-classical paintings.
The Prada women's resort collection, shown at the same time as the men's collection, also has a dash of color.
