Prada SS18 is all woman

[T]he word feminism is too often used as a buzzword. Bandwagony and at times gimmicky, designers have presented feminism as a trend, something to be worn on a t-shirt one season and discarded the next. Miuccia Prada, however, has never been one of these designers. Political, visionary and an activist at heart she has long championed the power of women and for SS18 only continued to solidify her interpretation of empowerment and the female gaze – even batting down comments backstage that the aesthetic was “masculine”. “When society describes a woman who is strong, she is called masculine. Why is that? She is not masculine. She is a strong woman,” she said to The Guardian.

This season every detail was thought out, starting with the show space, decorated with cartoon images of women, by women. The fashion house worked with eight artists and illustrators – Brigid Elva, Joëlle Jones, Stellar Leuna, Giuliana Maldini, Natsume Ono, Emma Ríos, Trina Robbins and Fiona Staples – and with the archive of Tarpé Mills, creator of the first female action hero Miss Fury in the 40s. The walls were decorated with Lichtenstein style pop art femme fatales, 50s style heroines, a character paying homage to the 70s Foxy Brown and a teenage girl sitting in a 90s bedroom playing guitar under a Heathers poster and another stating, “Girls invented punk rock, not England”. It was empowerment through the ages.

And so to the collection. The show opened with a black mac worn over a striped shirt and grey nylon mini, classic Prada materials, before moving on to shirts and heavy overcoats decorated with the same illustrations that covered the walls and shoes that were pointed, buckled and studded. Pretty dresses were worn over boxy collared shirts and slacks, subverting the tropes of gender dressing stereotypes and creating a new uniform. Knee high socks were paired with shorts, leopard print collars and panels peeked from outerwear and sunglasses were narrow and wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi comic. This was a collection that challenged preconceived notions, subtly nodded to society and didn’t abide by any rules. Another reminder, as if we needed it, that Miuccia Prada is one of the most important designers of our times.

The takeaway for the season, then? Women’s fashion has always in its essence been about femininity – what that is and how that should be presented – but what Miuccia Prada did was turn that in on itself, an introspective look which came to the conclusion that femininity is whatever you want it to be. It is choice, it is strength and, most importantly, it is power.