The last time that I was in the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada was in January, for the Fall-Winter 2025 menswear show. It was dark and industrial, with guests seated on multiple levels of scaffolding and a serpentine runway. Together, it made the space feel claustrophobic and almost unwelcoming. On Sunday, the Deposito was once again home to the show, though the space could not have been more different —stripped down to the bare bones with guests seated along the walls. Natural light poured into the building. It was airy and remarkably spacious — and incredibly hard to believe that this was the same space as in January. The sounds of birds and wind and insects — the sounds of summer — echoed through the space. Even the main door was left ajar.
Since the Fondazione Prada opened its doors in Milan’s Largo Isarco in 2015, the Deposito has served as Miuccia Prada’s — and the Prada team’s — play toy when it comes to shows. It is a blank canvas that can be turned into virtually any setting to present a new collection. In many respects, the Deposito reflects the Prada Group as a whole: the Fondazione, itself, is both strikingly modern on the outside, with its gleaming Torre, and yet hosts the throwback Bar Luce; and few luxury houses are as fluid as Prada when it comes to what the clothes and the collections look like. Change and transformation is the norm at Prada.
The Spring-Summer 2026 collection’s clothes certainly represented a change, too, a fit for the fluid space.
If the Fall-Winter 2025 collection was rugged, built for the cold realism of the real world, there was an innocence that permeated the Spring-Summer 2026 that felt almost naive — but in a refreshing and romantic way. There were pops of colour–bright red, electric green, yellows and dusty pinks, and trim-fitting trousers (as there tend to be at a Prada show). There was interplay between two attitudes: a blasé nonchalance typified by extremely short shorts, track pants with ribbed cuffs, flip-flops and distressed-looking canvas sneakers; and the classic stoicism of penny loafers, pleated trousers and double-breasted jackets. The bags seemed utilitarian, with rucksacks that seemed designed to pack for one’s picnic (at their smallest) or camping trip (at their most capacious).
But even the officewear and the pieces rooted in militaria — like an epaulet-adorned shirt and sweater that followed one another in quick succession — seemed to have a lightness to them, made aloof with that bright red or a fringed hem. One double-breasted suit was worn over a tracksuit. Some of the aforementioned penny loafers had the toes opened, creating a new type of sandal.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
The sartorial highlight of the show was, undoubtedly, the headwear. Models sported straw-like hats with unfinished ends that seemed to curve in an imaginary breeze and conical wicker hats of different heights which were, for their part, finished.
The show notes spoke of “a shift of attitude, […] non-conformist harmonies, [and] imaginary places.” At times, it felt as if Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons had envisioned one such imaginary place where the stylish Ivy League students of yore were filtered through a modern Prada lens. Part casual, part traditional.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Harris Dickinson (left), Frank Dillane, and Riz Ahmed.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Transform Project.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Win Metawin Opas-iamkajorn.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Stormzy.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Benedict Cumberbatch (left) and Frank Dillane.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Benito Skinner.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Harris Dickinson.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Kai.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Lee Dohyun.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Mahmood.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Nicolas Maupas.
Prada’s Change of Tone for Spring-Summer 2026
Riz Ahmed.
The real magic of the collection lay in the feeling it imparted. Often, one leaves a fashion show feeling overstimulated and slightly overwhelmed: people rush to post their videos from the runway and compare notes about what they did or didn’t like. Perhaps it was the heat, but there was a serene calmness around the usually cacophonous Fondazione post-Prada, as if people were thinking about where they had pictured themselves, surrounded by natural sounds and natural light during the show. Despite being new, there was something nostalgic about the collection: these were pieces that were recognizable, either informed by menswear’s classic codes or Prada’s own.
It was a palette cleanser of sorts, at a time when we desperately needed one.
All photos courtesy of Prada.
