Miuccia Prada’s style formula is simple: begin with a great skirt.
asserted
formula → begin → skirt
Her personal uniform is a knee-length skirt, A-line or pleated, most often with a plain sweater and kitten heels.
asserted
uniform → pleat → sweater
The Prada collection that opened Milan fashion week made a compelling case for her favourite outfit, with a skirt the star of every one of the 63 looks – no dresses, no trousers.
asserted
skirt → open → looks
It won the room over, so expect to see the personality skirt on a high street near you soon.
asserted
It → win → you
For the past six years, Miuccia Prada has shared design duties with Belgian designer Raf Simons, 20 years her junior.
asserted
Prada → share → Simons
The arrangement was considered unusual when announced, but the house of Prada has always had a way of spinning gold from quirky ideas, and it has worked.
asserted
it → consider → ideas
“She had the idea to focus on skirts this time,” Simons explained before this show.
asserted
Simons → have → show
“And I said, why not make it an all-skirt show?”
asserted
it → say → ?
She prefers skirts to dresses because “they give you room for contrast,” Mrs Prada said.
asserted
Prada → prefer → contrast
The way I think and feel is complicated, contradictory.
asserted
I → think → ?
If I wear something feminine, I want to wear something masculine too.
asserted
I → wear → something
A grey wool skirt, severe from the front, flashed a polka-dot violet slip from beneath splits at each side.
asserted
skirt → flash → side
A lemon skirt was slashed with a ribbon of embroidered black tulle.
asserted
skirt → slash → tulle
Sometimes, the skirts were worn with lace bras, sometimes with a sweater, elsewhere with a shirt.
asserted
skirts → wear → shirt
“Whether you want to go to work, or be sexy, or be relaxed with your kids, you can wear the skirt with whatever you choose,” Simons said.
asserted
Simons → want → whatever
Fashion usually does its talking from the waist up: a slogan T-shirt, a collar and tie, a plunging neckline.
asserted
Fashion → do → shirt
Prada’s personality skirt flips the script.
asserted
skirt → flip → script
“I like my clothes to have ideas,” Mrs Prada explained backstage, “but I don’t want those ideas near my face, because then they get in the way when I am trying to speak.
asserted
I → like → way
I think of a skirt the way some people think of a T-shirt – a place to express what I think.”
asserted
I → think → what
The Prada empire now extends to ownership of one-time rival, Versace.
asserted
empire → extend → rival
Donatella Versace, who stepped down from her family brand last year, announced on the eve of Milan fashion week that she was launching a new brand.
asserted
she → step → brand
At 71, Versace remains one of the most popular personalities in fashion, with a 12.2 million Instagram following that dwarfs that of most younger designers.
asserted
that → remain → designers
She is partnering with California-based Revolve Inc, whose businesses include a joint venture with rapper Cardi B, for an as-yet-unnamed brand that will launch beauty products next year, with fashion further down the line.
asserted
that → partner → line
There will be no Versace show this Milan fashion week, with new designer Pieter Mulier, newly arrived from Alaïa, preparing for a debut next season instead.
asserted
Mulier → arrive → debut
Armani, which last week announced the appointment of young designer Dario Vitale to the Emporio Armani brand, positioning him as an eventual successor to the late Giorgio, is also in transition.
asserted
which → announce → transition
Power in Italian fashion has long been concentrated in family-run fashion dynasties, creating a quasi-hereditary-peerage system in which the establishment are deeply invested in the status quo.
asserted
establishment → concentrate → quo
Paris fashion is where audacious moguls place big bets, London is where young talents experiment, but Milan has favoured stability.
asserted
Milan → place → stability
But with upheaval at several headline houses – the powerful Fendi matriarchy have also stepped back and appointed Maria Grazia Chiuri to lead their brand – that trend is changing.
asserted
trend → step → brand
The Aporia
