By Allanah Davies
Post-apocalypse, post-pandemic, and post the intellectual rupture ushered in by artificial intelligence, Prada arrives to piece together the relics of a bygone world. A world filled with dirt, mess, and clothes picked up from the dust. Prada’s Fall Winter 2026 Menswear offering: “Before and Next,” pieces together the relics of an old world, and, in the human interaction with these artifacts intended to dress these awakened bodies, creates “A new silhouette… [that] is conscious of the human form,” thereby creating something distinctly messy, wild and human.
For seasons of Prada past, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have used their collections to commentate on the overload of algorithms and content that render humanity paralysed in a nonstop stream of stimuli. This season, Simons and Prada awaken that transfixed populace and, guided by “universal human values,” imagine a wardrobe for the incoming winter built entirely by things left by the old world. What they get from this interplay of artefact and artifice is a beautifully practical rotation of sartorial gear: boonie hats in a water resistant nylon, modular trench coats with snap pockets for storage, and understated slim straight leg trouser that quietly accompany every single look in the collection.
The show was rolled in by the ‘Virgin Prunes’ rebellious post-apocolytic guitar, and, from the ashes, rose the first model, his eyes vacant and hair a mess. He’s rolled up in a black trench coat and those recurring slim suit pants–underneath, a crinkled crew-neck suit shirt that reappears continuously throughout the collection. Yet here, there’s more than meets the eye; the jacket, covered in soot and soil, illustrates a humanity transfixed in a decaying world, forgetting to wash or dry-clean their designer wardrobe.These imperfections vandalise the otherwise prim and proper archetype Prada is known for, reminding the audience of the imprint our neglect and distraction leaves on the world around us. Indeed, the showspace reinforces this message, the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada is transformed into a derelict collage of anachronistic architecture. Much like the clothes they supplement, the walls are pulled from various styles and periods to create a new look informed by the “collective anterior.”
Later in the collection, a suite of low cut, feminine tops come sweeping down the runway. At first in the form of knitted scoop neck sweaters in bright yellows and greens, then as straight neck apron tops in whites and pastels reminiscent of last season’s Miu Miu. Is this perhaps the kind of free, feminine expression afforded when the restriction of the old world is gone? Who’s to say. What is certain is Prada’s own assertion: “Either you talk about the world now, or you talk about fashion.” Perhaps then, the less practical, more ornamental pieces signal her insistence on beauty—an element the newly awakened populace chooses to weave into their winter-ready wardrobe. After all, if it is made by human hands, it must contain beauty.
