Opposition and contrast were the true statement-makers at Prada’s fall 2022 show. Kaia Gerber opened the presentation wearing a gray skirt that extended into a gauzy, embellished fabric with yellow feather-like details, paired alongside a simple white tank top bearing the signature triangle Prada logo. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian sat front row wearing a head-to-toe lime green leather look.

The combination of flamboyant skirts with simple, streamlined tops exemplified Miuccia Prada’s love for ornate embellishment mixed with Raf Simons’s stark silhouettes. The effect was, in a word, fabulous. But in many ways, it also felt referential to Prada’s fall 2017 show, in which models wore oversized outerwear with skirts that were bottom-heavy with beading, colorful feathers, furs, and more—a collection that put maximalism and Prada’s genius prints and dedication to color first and foremost.

Most of all, this collection revealed the duality of Miuccia Prada and her co-creative director Simons. There were looks that were completely free of artifice and color, save for a sturdy silver chain that wrapped from the lapel of stiff, tailored jackets to the neck, and tailored suit jackets with little puffs of faux fur on the arms just below the shoulders. This style was everywhere in the collection, done in lush black feathers, which contrasted with the thick and heavy wool. Model Erin O’Connor wore one with mohair trimming on the arms and the bottom of the jacket—perhaps another nod to fall 2017’s outerwear. Either way, it very much felt like a signature Miuccia Prada quirk.

The outerwear and intentionally oversized silhouettes from this collection certainly stood out. Leather pilot jackets, their shoulders splayed open with lush shearling, were pure Raf. But in a season where bodycon has been on full display and diversity has been lacking compared to past seasons, it was refreshing to see pieces that were fashion for fashion’s sake, not merely designed with the intention of making the wearer look as small as possible. The long bomber jackets in particular alluded to this idea; they were covered in flower-shaped paillettes that gave the casual, understated, and utilitarian garment new life. Elsewhere, these bomber jackets came shorter and belted—but no less oversized—with the same ornate decoration.

Prada called the collection “a commemoration of life and living—of the occasion of everyday affording importance to each moment. An ideology of Prada becomes an etymology of beauty, a history of women.” It felt like total and complete celebration, and a nod to the dopamine dressing trend that’s been going on for a few seasons now. A skirt that has three different layers of fabric, plus feathers and appliqué flowers? How can you not smile? The colorful geometric knits paired with over-the-top skirts and knee-high boots also hinted to a similar feeling, and felt very much like Prada in a pre-Raf Simons era.

The A-list cast that walked the show provided ample excitement, too—but seeing Euphoria star Hunter Schafer close the show wearing one of the white tank tops and maximalist skirt combinations may have been the most thrilling moment of all.

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Originally posted from “W Magazine” by Kristen Bateman