Prada’s answer to fashion excess? Simplicity

MILAN, June 22 — Italian fashion house Prada unveiled a menswear collection yesterday focused on a search for the essential, sending out coloured denim sets and cropped leather jackets paired with slim trousers.

The collection, entitled “Clarity”, aims to pursue the fundamental and the meaningful and bring to life pieces designed to stand the test of time, the brand said in its show notes.

“The ambition was to do something new with ‘nothing’, against exaggeration, against complex material. Against useless design,” designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons said in a statement.

Models walked through a futuristic set lit by neon strips beneath the floor and framed by transparent benches, under cold light.

Prada and Simons also sent down the runway translucent white shirt-jackets and trousers with visible seam construction, as well as sleeveless V‑neck knit vests with geometric patterns.

Accessories included small pouches in leather and other materials designed to hang from the belt.

Founded in 1913 as a Milan leather goods shop by Mario Prada, the company was transformed under his granddaughter, Miuccia Prada, from the late 1970s into a global luxury fashion powerhouse known for minimalist design and innovative materials such as nylon.

Earlier this month, the luxury group unveiled the inner-layer garment set to be worn by Nasa astronauts heading to the moon, underscoring the brand’s push to become the first major luxury player to make inroads into the space industry.

Milan Fashion Week began on Friday and will run until Thursday. — Reuters