UP CLOSE WITH RAF SIMONS’
FIRST PRADA COLLECTION

The styles that have caused the biggest stir since the show are the knits, which appeared in nearly all the looks and prompted us to re-add ‘long johns’ to our fashion vocabulary. Since her ‘Pretty/Ugly’ show back in 1996 that turned prints from 70s homeware into headline-making fashion, Miuccia Prada has had us questioning what counts as a tasteful pattern; and Raf Simons loves a turtleneck (they featured in his very first collections for his namesake label in the mid-90s). In a collection that considers comfort, warmth, beauty and protection, the two creative directors’ worlds meet in the second-skin, merino-wool tops and weighty jacquard jumpers – each one tagged with a knitted version of the distinctive Prada plaque. “This collection is talking a lot about tactility, and the literal, physical feeling clothes can have,” Simons said, reflecting on how he and Miuccia Prada came to make the kind of striking clothes you just want to reach out and touch.

Cocooning and shielding ourselves has become second nature over the past year or so. Prada has responded with clothes that protect us from the elements but refuse to stay hidden away. “[Clothes] can help you better express your ideas,” said Miuccia Prada, “your personality, what you want to show to the world, what you want to hide.” On how this translates for AW21, Simons explained, “this collection deals with juxtaposition of colour, juxtaposition of softness and hardness, to express the reality of the world, and at the same time expresses the possible feelings that everyone has dealing with this isolation.”

What we’re feeling is the impulse to go out, be seen and seek out some fun. The bright shades of raspberry, bottle green, purple and orange, combined with the outsized cut and quirky accoutrements of the padded nappa-leather bombers and glove-pouch hybrids have that all wrapped up. Mehmet sums up the appeal of these new designs, “each piece in the collection was phenomenal, however, I particularly liked the buttery-soft leather bombers – the nostalgia this silhouette gives will have every Raf fan pining over them.” We know she’s right, too: Drake – a man with an eye for an MA-1 worth investing in, having made headlines by wearing Simons’ AW01 ‘Riot! Riot! Riot!’ bomber jacket in his ‘Toosie Slide’ video – got hold of the magenta version months ago for his ‘What’s Next’ shoot. Here’s your chance.