For Prada’s A/W ’23 collection, intricate embroideries celebrate the beauty of creativity and craftsmanship rooted in precision and care.
For Autumn/Winter ’23, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons explored the proliferating notions of beauty rooted in care and responsibility. Aptly titled “Taking Care”, Prada and Simons sought to address the fundamental values of beauty defined through action, the end result of which transpired as garments that reflected “the beauty of care, of love, [and] of reality”. To achieve this effect, “the aesthetic language of eveningwear” was embraced, transforming the blueprint of Prada’s singular uniforms into bold and feminine pieces that placed an importance on both “everyday and occasion wear, the familiar and the exceptional”.
Silhouettes were languid and voluminous, suggesting tender concern and safekeeping. The effect was further heightened by masculine tailored outerwear and down padding that cocooned the wearer and provided warmth. This was offset with delicate flowers—tokens of affection—that bloomed ferociously amongst the sartorial looks on the runway, embellished heavily on skirts and shoes and fashioned as delicate neckties. The myriad of heavily embellished skirts—some were modestly veiled—were in fact inspired by wedding dresses, except these were reimagined and fashioned as everyday attire. Paired with simple sweaters, the thought-provoking contrast offered a new way of dressing that was elegant, effortless and practical. But back to the flowers.
In Prada and Simons’ world, the symbolism of flowers and wedding dresses represented another distinction of uniform and beauty embedded in the art of care and affection. In this instance, the wild flourish of flora was “evocative of the craft of fashion,” rooted firmly in the art of caring. After all, crafting intricate embroideries requires skilled artisans with years of experience and hours of physical work to come to fruition—a labour of love so to speak. Handcrafted and assembled solely by hand, three main embroideries informed the floral landscape of the collection: pendant, standing and pom pom.
The first embroidery design, “pendant”, consisted of large satin flowers such as calla lilies and liliums that were scattered in a seemingly random manner. Decorating the skirts with their winding stems, the design involved the use of doubled fabric for the base and the flowers, while a tubular padded fabric gave the stems shape and support. The second design, dubbed “standing” embroidery, was created with an approach typically seen in the realms of haute couture. To achieve the desired effect, cotton organza was utilised to create the delicate anatomy of the micro jasmine flowers that decorated the veils of skirts and were held in place at the base of their stems with a few cross stitches. Finally, “pom pom” embroidery was brought to life using a tufted pattern made up from tubular pieces of varying lengths and thickness which were then assembled neatly in the centre. Fabrics including silk gazar and silk organza were cut on the bias to strips and were then rolled onto themselves with a specialised ironing technique to create the desired effect.
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All images and video courtesy.
Shop Prada’s A/W ’23 HERE.
Discover the latest S/S ’24 trends from fashion week HERE.
