Triple-decker brothel creepers, loud lurid stripes, cartoonish monkeys and super bold bananas — even by Prada’s own unconventional standards, this year’s spring/summer collection is considered one of the Italian fashion house’s boldest ever. And the results have been equally striking.
The collection, first shown in Milan in September last year, has, as of this week, appeared on a staggering 48 international magazine covers, including British magazines Marie Claire, i-D and Pop, which featured Elton John wearing a banana-print shirt on its cover.
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, is also a fan. During London fashion week she sported a banana-print skirt and for this month’s cover of the Wall Street Journal magazine she is wearing a bold striped Prada dress.
Photo: Agencies
The catwalk look — described by its designer, Miuccia Prada, as “minimal baroque” — has had an equally pervasive effect on the high street. Numerous stores have produced their own versions of the bold stripes, now dubbed the “maxi stripe,” and there are copies of Prada’s catwalk sombreros.
Above all, there are the earrings. At the end of the Milan show, Prada was photographed in a pair shaped like yellow plastic bananas. She said at the time that she had wanted to put the earrings in the show, but that her assistant had thought them not beautiful enough.
Instead, they became the talk of the entire show season, and were added to the collection before it went into stores earlier this year. Now these earrings, and other fruit-themed jewelry, are spreading fast around the high street.
Photo: Agencies
The Italian fashion house is on a roll. It recently announced record-breaking net profits of US$360 million for last year, up 150 percent on 2009, and recent reports have suggested the label may be preparing to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange in July. Earlier this year it staged its first catwalk show in China as part of a plan to open more stores in Asia.
“Prada is the hot ticket in Milan,” said Grazia style director Paula Reed. “It’s not always the easiest collection, but when Miuccia Prada is in the zone, there’s nobody quite like her and for this collection she really was in the zone. I remember at the time thinking it was an instant winner.”
Photo: Agencies
Photo: Agencies
Photo: Agencies
Photo: Agencies
Photo: Agencies
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