I don’t think it’s possible to go into a show without any preconceived notions. The invitation, the setting and the history of a brand set one’s expectations; the first notes of the soundtrack offer a hint of what’s to come. Guests are either surprised or nod as they begin to see the clothes they expected to see.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
RUARIDH MOLLICA, NOAH JUPE, JORDAN FIRSTMAN. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
LOUIS PARTRIDGE, TROYE SIVAN. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
YANG SHUYU, YU CHENGEN, POND NARAVI. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
JOACHIM TRIER, THOMAS VINTERBERG. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
NOAH JUPE. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
LOUIS HOFMANN. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
Prada Menswear Spring-Summer 2027
JORDAN FIRSTMAN. PHOTO COURTESY OF PRADA.
On Sunday, in the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada subverted the Prada collection that I had imagined they would show. A glowing lightstick came with the invitation and guests walked across glass floors, with tube lights underneath them, before sitting on acrylic benches, also housing tube lights. The space was otherwise barren and airy and it felt like a minimalist, light collection beckoned. Then the show started with the familiar sounds of the Pac-Man soundtrack and I wondered if we would instead be treated to a show rooted in the nostalgia of evenings playing video games with your friends while on summer vacation. Perhaps bold colours, graphic T-shirts and printed shirts — a Prada staple — were in order, or very short shorts mixed with sailing and nautical references.
Instead, Simons and Prada flipped things on their head.
For one, the show — arguably the foundation of Milan’s menswear fashion week — opened with a female model, rather than a man. The collection was stripped down and inherently minimalist, but it didn’t exude a summery vibe the way some collections — like Spring-Summer 2026, for example — have. Perhaps the heat tainted my view slightly: at nearly 40 degrees, it’s hard to imagine wearing jeans and a denim trucker jacket, much less a thick leather jacket. On the streets this past week, industry insiders have been wearing loose-fitting linen shirts and baggier trousers cut from light fabrics to beat the heat. On the Prada runway, it was denim, leather and knits, cut close to the body, culminating in matching denim sets to close the show. Not exactly what one yearns to wear amid a heat wave.
One series of looks did, however, appeal to me as I prepare for the intense heat forecast in Paris next week, and probably for our foreseeable summers: white translucent trucker jackets and trousers that looked so light and airy that I thought I could hear them rustling and crinkling in the breeze as models strode past. It felt like a continuation of the light from the invitation and the show setting: transparent minimalism. If only the underwear, visible through the trousers, had been in Pac-Man colours like the leather and denim sets.
A surefire hit from the collection will be the satchel bags, which called to mind rock climbing chalk bags, worn here on the front of models’ waists rather than at the back. In both Florence and Milan, I’ve been stopped countless times and asked about a crossbody water bottle holder. People want practicality and portability. These bags were that. I could easily imagine myself wearing one, toting what I needed, while keeping my hands free.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PRADA.
The show notes spoke of clarity and stripping things of their superfluous design elements. The bags and the translucent pieces felt like a moment of clarity: do we need to use our hands to hold our bags? Do we need to not see what’s under our clothes? But by and large, this felt like subverting expectations. Case in point: two leather jackets that, as the models walked by, I expected to see finished with triangles on the yoke. But, there were no triangles. In their stead: squares. For Spring-Summer 2027, even Prada’s most iconic shape wasn’t what one would expect.
