Last season, Miuccia Prada dressed her models in pastels and delicate prints – but this time around, robust silhouettes were on the agenda. Staged at the iconic Deposito, the grand hall of the Fondazione Prada, her line-up emerged from a red-lit entrance way as if transported from another dimension: on a mission to show onlookers the future of menswear.

For FW20, the creative director’s intention was to explore the contradiction between technological advancement and tradition. Entitled SURREAL CLASSIC, the concept was to create “an anti-heroic masculinity,” as the show notes read. Long-established menswear codes were subverted through the introduction of recycled materials and abstract prints; the aim was to experiment with silhouette — fluctuating between form-fitting and overtly oversized. Formal shirts came in kaleidoscopic patterns, while smart bib-front tunics were paired with matching slacks to look effortlessly casual. Graphic prints looked like non-verbal reasoning exams rendered in textile, as v-neck vests and knitted jumpers were layered over shirt-and-tie combos.

Outer layers, however, were the main event. Timeless trenches either came in 60s-flavored plaid or in a lacquered finish with shearling trimming. Elsewhere, longline blazers and overcoats with exaggerated shoulders featured Prada branding to show that Miuccia’s man means business. In essence, this was Prada’s vision of “A postmodern panopticon”: Foucault but make it fashion.