PRADA S/S 2013 PRE-COLLECTION

T-shirts, jackets and headbands were given a sporty finish by Miuccia Prada for the brand's 

spring/summer 2013 collection. Men and Women Models showed off the designs to a soundtrack of Jean-Luc Godard's 60s film Contempt (Le Mepris), providing one of the high points of Milan fashion week.

Prada took her collection to a cold place. But not some far flung snow covered location. Rather the chill was born from within. On a stark white set with tiered spectator seating Miuccia Prada showed a collection that on the surface seemed inspired by 1970s sportswear. Note the "John McEnroe" headbands, the wide strapped patent leather sandals and the boxy tote bags.

The use of contrasting color bands that wrapped around the arm holes of a tank top, outlined a v-neck and most dramatically zipped into view along the inseam of pants underscored the athletic nature of the show. 

But these athletes had a repressed asexual energy. Male and female models looked interchangeable in their almost identical outfits. The clinical sartorial starkness varying only in the choice of color combinations or the weight of fabrics that made up the long and lean silhouettes. 

But that was also what made this collection enticing. Prada's unique relationship with color created unusual graphic pairings. While the juxtaposition of stiff and fluid fabric gave the retro looks a decidedly modern feel.The fact that Miuccia Prada surprises us season after season is something we al already know. What I could not possibly imagined is that she would make geishas look modern, in an amazing extreme way.

Almost athletic aesthetic and including a Warhol touch (in the flowers), of course, the Miuccia way.

Gotta love that girl!