Dialogue – Prada fall/ winter 2017 womenswear campaign

One woman, a multitude of identities – reinvented again and again through fashion.
Willy Vanderperre captures the magnetic presence of Kris Grikaite in six different states, inspired by key Prada handbags for the Fall/Winter 2017 season.
The inspiration is a conversation, a dialogue, between the different images – each
showcasing both the woman and her bags, in luxuriant close-up. A portrait of both femininity, and of fashion, these photographs are striking in their intimacy; they are personal, honest.

The different identities assumed by Kris Grikaite are underscored by her accessories; each represent a different side of not only Prada, but the Prada woman.
The new Prada Etiquette bag, the innovative style first offered in the Fall/Winter 2017 fashion show, takes centre stage. It is presented here in a duo of styles – timeless, iconic Prada fabric, and calf leather with metal studs, keyed to the of-the-moment aesthetic of the Fall/Winter 2017 womenswear show. In contrast to its name, the Etiquette toys with the rules of fashion, in true Prada style. It is a rebel, an iconoclast, a gamechanger. The Prada Etiquette bag places the pale-blue Prada ready-to-wear label – until now, a subtle luxury enjoyed by the wearer alone – on the outside. It is exposed, daringly.

Just as ‘etiquette’ was established as a code of behaviour in the 17th century, so the Etiquette bag expresses every ‘code’ and ‘behaviour’ of Prada. The typological
innovation, a fetishization of craftsmanship, an exploration of the nature of brand
and product, and the idea of the inside-out, the anti-status. Turning fashion on its head. What is normally concealed, is revealed.
Pure and modernist, the Prada Monochrome handbag features a three-dimensional tone-on-tone logo in relief on Saffiano leather – as the light falls, the logo appears and disappears. In startling white with graphic hand-painted piping, the Monochrome is a sleek delineation of the Prada aesthetic. For a woman who is a fan of Prada in its purest form.

A volte-face; the Prada Corsaire, evocative of travel and adventure, eclectic and multilayered. Inspired by saddle and game bags, the Corsaire has a dynamism, its surface animated by leather thonging and hardware rings. It is for a woman who explores, who dares and pushes boundaries.
This season brings a new iteration of the Prada Cahier bag, in fine velvet with trompe l’oeil renditions of its signature hardware detailing. Inspired by a metal-bound antique diary – in which the most personal and intimate thoughts are recorded – the colour variations afforded in the new velvet incarnation allows most to be unique. A handbag for an individual.

Finally, the absolute classicism of the Prada Light Frame – a handbag as archetype, imbued with feminine elegance, timeless and eternal. A pop colour palette of Saffiano leather reinvents this ageless form with a fresh currency. It represents a dialogue between the past and the present.
The strength in using a single model to encapsulate these myriad identities proves the true transformative power of fashion. The ability of clothing to express deep desires and needs. These images, in turn, become a dialogue – a dialogue between the different facets of a woman, between her different identities and incarnations.
A woman, and the women she wishes to be.

 
Credit: Prada