Prada's A/W 19 menswear and Pre-Fall 19 collections, showcased in January, moved from one inspiring icon – Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and featured images of a cartoonish monster replicated on some of the key designs in the collection.
Gentle and looking for love, yet rejected, the monster seemed to be such a good inspiration that, for her A/W 19 womenswear collections, Prada turned once again to him, but this time had him reunited with his bride as portrayed by Vera West in James Whale’s "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935).
Cartoonish images of West appeared on tops and dresses for emo teens and queens and anti-social girls, at times accompanied by coloured striped motifs on a black background and matched with hairstyles that evoked Wednesday Addams'.
The set for the catwalk show, held at the Fondazione Prada, was also the same of the January collections, evoking a laboratory where mysterious experiments may be carried out, with its metal floors lined with sinister exposed-filament bulbs.
Yet the rest of the collection wasn't about Frankenstein, but about a romance with a dark twist: the show opened with plain, sober and slightly apocalyptic dresses in thick wool cinched at the waist with thick metal clasps. They went well with the black coats that followed, characterised by huge pockets reminiscent of the functional garments in Schiaparelli's "Cash and Carry" collection.
The romantic theme emerged more clearly in the glamorously decadent cocktail dresses with floral prints on black or white backgrounds: one dress with such prints seemed to evoke the beauty of the still life images painted by Dutch masters, but art was vaguely mixed with death in the designs that incorporated appliqued fabric motifs.
At times the heads of the three-dimensional satin flowers that broke the fourth wall and erupted from the fabric, seeemed to be drooping and bending as if they were dying rather than blooming (or maybe they had just been stolen from a grave...).
Maybe the reason was an impending and depressing war, evoked by the military looks comprising oversized boxy olive green jackets matched with pale blue shirts and pencil skirts and field jackets transformed into capes. Menswear fabrics such as tweed and herringbone were also employed for evening gowns with gigantic pockets.
Sturdy multi-functional boots that incorporated little bags also pointed at a utilitarian inspiration, even though their colourful versions in vividly bright colours such as fuchsia and red, re-shifted the discourse towards a lighter mood, as if Miuccia tried to tell us not to worry, after all this was still a (dystopian?) fashion fantasy.
Military inspirations were reshifted towards elegance via macrame jackets, but a lingering feeling of fear remained, especially when you looked at the sparkling crystal shoes at the feet of some of the models and wondered if this was a reference to Dorothy out of "The Wizard of Oz", to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "The Red Shoes" or maybe to shoes splattered in blood (we'd rather not know in this case...).
The collection seemed balanced and controlled, but it also revealed the designer's fears: in the last seasons Miuccia Prada willingly shared with journalists her worries and fears about Europe breaking and the outcome of the European elections in May; she spoke about extremism, racism, violence and the ominous ghost of wars. And while she didn't directly mention the Italian situation with a far right government causing tensions about key issues, including migration and international relations, it was probably on her mind.
As a whole the world didn't shake at thsi show, there was nothing incredibly new nor unexpected, but it was all very Prada, but this "Anatomy of Romance" (the title of the show) was meant to be an antidote to fears, and maybe a way for Miuccia to ponder about the dichotomy between producing luxury clothes and actually trying to reach out to a wider number of people via exhibitions at the Fondazione Prada, and wonder if it is possible for a designer to produce popular and commercial products and maybe tackle at the same time relevant political and social issues.
At the moment Miuccia is trying to do so: after last December some of the fantasy charms in the brand's Pradamalia range were deemed offensive as they seemed to evoke blackface, she created a diversity council and included in it artist Theaster Gates and filmmaker Ava DuVernay, hoping to organise a group of enlightened minds ready to educate people to diversity and the art of inclusiveness.
Will Miuccia ever get into politics and get fashionistas shouting "Prada for President"? Who knows maybe Miuccia is not ready to renounce fashion, leave ugly chic behind and deal with the ugly sh*t in real life. But you know what they say, never say never.
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