Prada’s Stunning Private Drama: On the Runway For FW13

By Danielle Pollack

Miuccia Prada exposed all her vulnerability and power in this exceptional show of high/low contrasts for Fall Winter 2013. We saw disheveled heroines mixing haute minx and tavern wench all in one look. Damp hair and off the shoulder casual cottons or knits under black sequined brocade gowns captured even the most stoic critic’s imagination. Unbuttoned, unzipped, unmatched was the name of the game. Birds, shadows of turning fans, moody black cats, and the Bette Blue soundtrack served as a backdrop to this show of the sensual struggle, romantic but not romanticized.

Video of Prada’s Fall Winter 2013 remarkable runway show during Milan Fashion Week. © Prada.

Prada seemed to borrow inspiration from cinematic female leads of the 1950-60s Italian neo-realism movement, notably Fellini’s Cabiria played by Giuletta Masina and Vittorio di Sica’s Marriage Italian Style starring Sophia Lauren: passionate women taught they must rely on simple means and their physicality, yet looking for romance, for something more (opulent). Prada is defining this against all odds woman, entirely on her own terms, in this brilliant FW13 collection.

Oversized, sometimes fur, layered cuffs billowed on many of the otherwise closely fitting tops. Men’s tweeds and ladies sequins paired up, and exaggerately large alligator bags that were perhaps part of an imaginary heist completed the looks. Heavy belted, half-buttoned coats and off center hemlines played an important role, appearing as if thrown on by a woman just out of bed and out onto the street, attire perhaps borrowed from a girlfriend or john or boyfriend the morning after a party. Streetwalker red and baby blue gingham also appeared. All sensual, all woman, all full of contrast

When asked in a recent interview with a Chinese journalist if she struggles with finding a way to reconcile her politically left (and feminist) leanings with her bourgeoisie background, Prada answered, “Of course, of course I do, it is the drama of my life.”

This beautifully executed collection shows just how so.