100 Years of Prada in a Single Garment
Prada's new collection brings together heritage and handsome Raf Simons flavor.
A century's worth of frequently imitated but seldom duplicated fashion output is nothing to scoff at.
And with some new quietly heritage designs, Prada is paying homage to its storied history of standard-setting wearability with a collection of varsity-leaning menswear.
For the first time, ever-humble Prada subtly called out to 1913, the brand's birth year, in a ready-to-wear capsule.
The pieces, which include a Re-Nylon jacket, wool and cashmere cardigan and a cotton bomber jacket, reflect the current state of today's Prada while quietly calling back to its origins.
When Prada does collegiate style, it does so with tasteful vigor. Whereas Prada’s co-creative director, Raf Simons, is famed for mixing youthful flavor with sophisticated tailoring, getting all up in the intersection of timelessness and innovation.
You can see this mix in Prada's old-meets-new 1913 line.
Though not quite as oversized as Simons’ 2016 oversized sweater, from his now-defunct eponymous brand, for instance, the relaxed cardigan resembles the distorted prepster vibe present in Simons’ fall 2016 collection, which still reverberates through the style ether today.
Prada has also played with bomber-style silhouettes in the past.
But this rendition leans all into the preppy aesthetics first made famous by brands like Polo Ralph Lauren that have become synonymous with American college style, wearing bright varsity colors and patches that speak to ivy league wardrobes.
There is an undeniable harmony in one of Prada's rare self-referencing lines, impressively reflected in a collection that pulls from Simons’ body of work and some of Prada’s most classic silhouettes.
