As you entered the Fondazione Prada on the third day of Milan Fashion Week, you were greeted by a bank of office cubicles set up with desktops displaying the house’s logo. Into the next room and the workplace theme continued, searching out your name on one of the plethora of office chairs that marked out the runway’s course. Beneath your feet, however, was a veritable meadow of grass, leaves, rocks and even a waterway. It was all very literal. Sitting yourself on an office chair with a babbling brook beneath you, all that beauty being visible yet inaccessible. It was one of the most memorable show spaces of the season so far. 

As models entered, they were ready for work, in office shirts, grey suits with every button fastened, and ties of every hue (the show invite also included a tie). Outside of the office wear, things felt distinctly late-2000s. Bright trousers in reds, whites, greens and purples, cardigans over t-shirts with flashy belts, and chunky clear-framed glasses. The most noticeable aspects of the Prada show however were the colourful swimming cap-style beanies worn by almost every model. A signature hat is a very Prada move, but there was something about these swimming caps that felt like the perfect balance of Miuccia’s practicality and Raf’s tongue-in-cheek humour. Post-show, Mrs Prada told press that the collection was about the human connection with seasons, and a reminder to immerse yourself in nature.