Romanticising History – Prada’s Fall/Winter 2024 Womenswear Collection

In an era when society is characterised by its need to rapidly improve and redefine itself, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons redirected their focus to history for their Fall/Winter 2024 collection.

The industry can often be so demanding, expecting groundbreaking collections to be produced at a pace which is often unattainable. The iconic duo opted to take a step back from this tedious cycle and see the allure of the past. The show notes declared it best: ‘The past is an instrument, a tool for learning, used here to try to invent something new. Yet rather than an intellectual examination, this collection is an emotional reaction to ideals of beauty that still feel resonant.’

A central theme was questioning the cliches of femininity, reassessing their purpose and expressing a desire to understand their attraction. This was apparent from the opening look of the show, as we see a model wearing a black dress adorned with bows and knee-high boots to set the tone. Variations of the same dress could be seen in pink and purple later in the show.

Traditionally masculine elements are reworked to contrast inherently feminine materials. Evident in the oversized navy and grey double-breasted suits, long-sleeved shirts, leather and letterman jackets paired with layered skirts featuring wool tailoring and dainty floral silk.

Nevertheless, the collection also exudes a romantic ambience visible in the light and elegant sheath dresses with floral detailing. Throughout the collection, there is a rotation between pink, red, baby blue, peach and cream with unexpected pops of neon purple, yellow and orange. The recurring presence of bows in various sizes added the perfect young and playful touch to dresses and belts on skirts.

Overall, the collection evoked a sense of fragmentation, deliberately shifting perceptions and blurring the lines of femininity through the front and back of each look. A symbolic gesture, perhaps, echoing the necessity of drawing upon the past to inform and shape the future.

Image credit: Prada