Raf Simons Makes His Prada Debut
His first show, almost seven months after he was announced.
Prada’s much-anticipated Spring/Summer 2021 show took place today, in what was Raf Simons’ first as the new creative director, some seven months after the official announcement. Sat alongside co-creative director Miuccia Prada, the pair showcased their SS21 womenswear collection, before answering questions in a creative conversation between the two.
While Simons’ menswear debut for the brand is set to take place next January, the women’s presentation offered some clues as to what to expect. Simon’s own brand signatures were apparent in the collection, including graphic artwork prints, oversized coats, and a series of printed hoodies.
The collection explores the notion of uniform and its various interpretations of that concept. Clothes are stripped, refined and focused, with shell tops, straight pants, overcoats in industrial re-nylon, constructed using couture techniques and suits executed in fleece.
Artworks created by Peter de Potter, a long-term collaborator of Raf Simons, explore ideas of thought and process, returning to the relationship between information, technology and humankind. They are used to interrupt and disrupt the uniform surfaces of clothes, as graphic tools of contrast and often laid over archival Prada print.
You can view the full Prada Spring/Summer 2021 show above.
In other news, Raf Simons has also announced he’ll be launching his own womenswear line.
