They have been been ridiculed as snowflakes and “too woke” by some, but Prada’s co-creative designers think gen Z are a generation to be celebrated. Speaking backstage after their latest menswear show, which took place on Sunday afternoon at the Prada Foundation in Milan, Miuccia Prada said: “Youth is the future. It is hope.
We wanted to do something that would express youthful optimism because the times are so bad.” Raf Simons, who joined Prada as co-creative director of the brand in 2020, said when creating the collection, the duo “wanted to think like the fresh minds of the youth. Sometimes, when you get older, you overthink and limit yourself.
When you are young, you just go. And we like that spirit.” The show’s set featured a large white hut that pulsated with purple strobe lighting, as equally pulsating music, including Faithless’s track Insomnia track, blared throughout the venue.
Each model emerged from the hut before making their way down a white Perspex staircase that turned into a catwalk which snaked around guests, who included the actor Joe Alwyn, rapper Dave and the tennis star Venus Williams. Simons said they wanted the collection to look “like clothes you already live with”, and had taken inspiration from the way teenagers borrow and steal items from their parents and even grandparents. “It’s very much about the freedom to let things come together.
That’s a very youth spirit.” Purposefully creased suiting and exaggerated proportio.
