Inside Prada’s SS25 Menswear Show

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons want to be close to you. That was the prevailing feeling at Prada’s Spring-Summer 2025 menswear show, on Sunday in Milan. As usual, the Fondazione Prada’s Deposito was transformed into a unique and enthralling space. As guests entered the Fondazione’s doors, they were greeted with a wall of black, a tunnel lined with dark curtains. Thumping bass reverberated from the end of the tunnel — a rave beckoned. Inside the show space proper, concrete benches were arranged alongside a sweeping, curving runway that flowed down from a simple white hut, with a white picket-fenced portion of the runway leading the models down to the level of guests, who were packed closely together.

The mass of humanity looked on as a parade of pieces that revealed more the closer one looked. Many of the pieces, themselves, looked as if they had been pressed inside a steaming crowd of people, deliberately wrinkled and unruly, but incredibly stiff, as if standing at attention and springing away from the body, towards the viewer. The irony being that starching one’s shirts is usually meant to keep things neat and tidy. 

There was also a flatness to much of the collection, not in terms of the emotional impact, but in terms of the visual effect. There were light three-button suits that looked paper thin and were wrinkled ever so slightly, creating the impression that each suit had been pressed in a vise before the show. Sweaters featured contrast detailing around the collar to create the illusion of a sweater worn over a collared shirt, but pressed completely flat against the body — like that of a 2D avatar in a video game. The same was true of trousers, which featured detailing made to look like a flat belt, but was actually inlaid leather, the illusion only revealed when the flat, streamlined silhouette was viewed from the side. It was as if Prada and Simons had envisioned a world where people had been pressed down to a flat form — what would those clothes look like?

On the idea of closeness, Prada and Simons also explored the more romantic reading of the word, inspired by the clothes we borrow from those we’re inextricably close to: our parents. Trousers were cut with more drape and break, while jackets, sweaters and shirts featured shorter sleeves, baring wrists. The clothes we borrow — or, as Prada and Simons alluded to, the ones we steal — from our parents never fit quite right. They’re too big, or a touch small, but still we wear them, because it’s yet another way to feel close. 

Juxtaposition and contrast were pillars of the collection. The bags were constructed from a sumptuous suede but made to resemble simple canvas bags. Totes will be a popular style from the collection, but the more square shape will make for an excellent weekender and overnight bag. The footwear was either sleek and subtle or maximalist and in-your-face. There were sneakers with chunky, aggressive soles, but also simple trainers with slim, flat soles and dress shoes with double-monk straps or tassels, which typically feature a thicker sole, reimagined with a thin sole befitting a slipper. Jumpsuits with multiple neon contrast zippers, were paired with business attire–V-necks, trench coats, luxurious leathers. But perhaps the most Prada-esque bit of juxtaposition came in the form of Bernard Buffet paintings printed like graphic T-shirts — or, considering the setting, band or DJ T-shirts.

Above all else, the clothes didn’t feel like they needed to be contextualized — these were pieces that could be worn on their own for years to come, not just a series of full looks. It’s easy to imagine mixing and matching this Prada collection with pieces new and old. So much of the collection had a timeless appeal, from the knits to the shirting to the coats and jackets–beautiful without being prohibitive, with an astounding level of craftsmanship. 

Which is a good thing if you’re going to be wearing these pieces to your next rave — exactly what Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons would like.

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