Prada goes to war

prada FW0910/fashionologie


You've got to love the speed at which the FW0910 collections coverage is moving. And I'm not just talking about the Twitter dispatches - from which we have learned over the past 24 hours that the Recession continues to impact on showgoer numbers, including the foreign press. And that Alessandra Facchinetti may be cooking up Tom Ford's new womenswear line. Approximately two hours after the Prada show, a UK Telegraph video was up showing not only the hair & makeup preparations, but show footage. Myf Shepherd scored her second Prada show (1.00 into the video below), also Marni and Gucci, in what is emerging as an even bigger sophomore runway season for the 17 year-old Australian.

Click here to see the complete collection on wwd.com.

Miuccia Prada told reporters backstage that the collection was a take on the country – and there were certainly plenty of sturdy pastoral tweeds, ribbed knit cardigans and rich tapestry brocades. Not forgetting the Wellington-look boots, complete with curious leather suspenders - the most extreme version being a to-the-hip style that was a dead ringer for a rubber fisherman's wader, but which, as it turns out, is definitely leather. On the horizon for some time now, the over-the-knee boot trend has reached its apotheosis this season.


prada FW0910/fashionologie

Luxury abounded in businesslike crocodile briefcases and an abundance of fur, which picked up from Prada’s ‘sauvage’ FW0607 collection and was seen in everything from gilets to dresses, cardigans and bags.

But this Prada collection also boasted a very definite WWII austerity vibe. Two cases in point, the predominance of boxy tweed suits with strong shoulders and wide lapels and even the hair, which to frockwriter’s eye looked far less ‘roll in the hay’ as some have suggested, and more Victory Roll. Named after a fighter pilot manoeuvre which celebrated victory in battle, the Victory Roll became the iconic coiffure of the 1940s.

There was more than a little fight in this Prada collection, as evidenced in the boxing arena-style seating, the spectacular studded gladiators - which included a Mary Jane with a studded upright fringe that looked like the defensive collar of an Australian Frilled Neck Lizard in fight or flight mode. And of course, the richly embellished finale of gladiator-style studded ribbon dresses.


prada FW0910/fashionologie

But if the clothes were Bolshie, the models seemed less so. As they gathered en masse in the centre of the Prada ‘ring’ at the close of the show, at least one observer noted that they looked too thin.

Loving Marie Claire Australia's Twitter coverage, but can't help wondering if their Prada advertisers are going to love the latter comment.