images from style.com
“I saw them as strong, visible fighters. We need to be fighters in general. There is this debate about women again, and I want to interpret it. My instrument is fashion. I use my instrument to be bold. I had this idea that if you wear clothes so exaggerated and out there, people will look, and then they will listen.”-Miucci Prada, backstage at Prada’s Spring 2014 runway show
Miuccia Prada wanted us to see feminism when we look at her clothes from Prada’s Spring 2014 collection. Feminism, women, and art. Prada commissioned 6 artists from all over the world to paint “active, strong women” with no other constraints. You see the results both on the clothes and in the massive murals that served as a backdrop to the show.
Bras were inevitably a big part of the show; just not in a conventional way. They were a part of the clothes, stitched into the coats in a patchwork manner, or jewelled into the dresses like an ornate accessory. The playful bras, combined with footballer socks and vivid portraits of women certainly put out the message that the show was an explosion of bold women and politics.
Images from Prada’s runway show, from wallpaper.com (click link to see all images) – photography by Attilio Maranzano
I won’t lie, when I was first clicking through images of Prada’s Spring 2014 show, my first thought was “what am I looking at?” Which, I like to think, Prada would have wanted. It caught my attention, and piqued my curiosity to further research the collection. I gained a better understanding and appreciation for the collection after getting a sense of the bigger picture.
I’m a huge fan of street art, and I fell in love with the murals that weren’t readily available to the casual onlooker who weren’t at the show. The murals were obviously a huge part of the shows message and ambience. Upon further research of Prada’s political and feminist statements, the collection became a favourite of mine. It’s fun and playful, and unlike any other collection this season, in light of it’s bold feminist and political statement. This is exactly why I love fashion; it never ceases to surprise me.
Links to the artists websites from Prada’s Spring 2014 show – please check them out!
El Mac from the United States
Mesa from Spain
Gabriel Specter from Canada
Stinkfish from Colombia
Jeanne Detallante from France
Pierre Mornet from France
MISS MILADO 