#1879 Prada sent a fairytale rainbow explosion down the catwalk

Photos: Sonny Vandevelde

Cast your mind back to that scene in Zoolander where Mugatu turns to his Derelicte show audience and delivers the unforgettable line: “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” So it was at Prada this afternoon, where the lady of the hour delivered a collection that was brilliant in its sheer excess – the freakier it got, the more the crowd lapped it up. Bear in mind that this is the woman who has managed to persuade fans the world over to wear bananas, monkeys, lurex and multi-clash-coloured platform-brogue-moccasin-creepers in the past two seasons alone. This time around, Miuccia Prada threw everything in the mix, including the dress-up box, Grandpa’s closet, the pro-shop and the kitchen sink.

We were seated on 600 individual foam cubes that sat in long lines of 40 or more per row. The catwalk was astroturf – fake grass – but with exaggeratedly long strands. Given the estranged setup, most of the crowd milled around chatting to one another before the lights began to flash – but when they did, the people dispersed, sprinting to their seats like naughty schoolchildren caught out by a stern teacher. And so it began.

It was hyper-golf meets Gilligan’s Island – multi-coloured tasseled cleats, patterned hats, short sleeve shirts and neckerchiefs tied at jaunty angles. Then it was 70s flower power with incredibly colourful hydrangea-print pants and shirts. Grandpa’s closet had been raided, as a bunch of blazers and shorts came out in that peculiar beige/brown colour that only old men ever seem to own. But wait, there’s more! Did I mention the bejazzling? It featured throughout – costume jewels dotted all over shirts, shoes and bags.

The dual power and beauty of Prada as a house is that it can do no wrong. Miuccia Prada could tell fashion people to tattoo an extra nose on their forehead and the response would be, “How big?” It’s as if she’s conducting an art experiment just to test how far she can push the boundaries. Today she bombed a fairytale rainbow land, sent the results down the catwalk and everyone in attendance gasped in admiration.

Did I love it? More than you would imagine. Was I excited? Hell yes. Would I wear the clothes? No, it was way too freaky for my conservative tastes – but see something enough and it becomes perfectly acceptable. Watch magazine covers, blogs and awards shows in the upcoming months: this collection will go viral. When it goes on sale in spring next year I have no doubts that Ms Prada will have pulled off an enormous coup. You just wait and see.












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