“Acts of refinement are energised with a sense of the accidental, representative of creative freedom, gestures of liberation”. By Dani Maher

REALITY IS REFLECTED, refracted, observed and dissected in Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ spring/summer 2023 women’s collection for Prada.

The designer duo presented the collection, titled “Touch of Crude”, at Milan Fashion Week.

“There is an interrelationship between the raw and the sensual, between delicacy and roughness, an emulsification of contrasts. The collection plays constantly with dissimilitude and paradox, shifting between different visions, separate realities,” they wrote in the show notes.

Prim and tailored poplin bodysuits are paired with delicately sheer, unrestrained slip dresses trimmed with lace necklines. Strapless mini-dresses and business-like skirt suits wrinkle where they lie at the joints of the body, like they have been lived in for hours. Slouchy knits are torn open at the seam, revealing purposefully crumpled layers beneath.

To be human, Prada says, is to be be imperfect. The “touch of crude” is what brings every human creation to life: “Human gestures animate surfaces — traces of life shape the forms of garments, intentional rifts, twists, creases and folds capture a spontaneity, like memories of beauty embedded in cloth. Acts of refinement are energised with a sense of the accidental, representative of creative freedom, gestures of liberation.”

The colour palette is referred to as “industrial”, with pops of pastels in the layering and accessories — signature triangle bags alongside clowncore-esque shoes and antique nappa totes. There are nods to nature too, in rose-shaped adornments on bags, brooches and floral prints.

The set is “a black paper panopticon, itself a sublimation of a domestic sphere, a reality,” created by film director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Neon Demon). It’s brooding and sexy in that way Prada does best: The perfect backdrop for a collection of clothing that examines modern femininity in its multitudes.

If the pared-back fashion kept things almost refreshingly low-key, sans the theatrics we’re often dazzled by at Fashion Week runways and presentations; there was still a twist at play.

Theatrically oversized lashes were the centrepiece of the beauty look. Draped over the lash line were falsies so long they swept down like fringed curtains over the models eyes, and so thick they very well may have been crafted from hair extensions.

There’s a touch of the macabre in these lashes: Something about them is almost viscerally unsettling; reflected in fashion watchdog Diet Prada’s comparison of the look to Japanese horror films Exte and The Grudge. Rather than curling upwards, they curved downwards, casting a sinister shadow under the moody lighting — the wispy lashes casting tendril, tear-like shadows down the cheeks of the models. Veiling the eyes, playing with the panopticon theme echoed through the set, models were observed while their observers remained hidden to them.

Pat McGrath was the mastermind behind the makeup, with Guido Palau helming hair: Naturally textured, almost glossy without appearing unnatural, effortlessly ‘undone’.

Discover the full collection here.

Harper’s BAZAAR participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land and commit to building a brighter future together.