Guests arriving at the Fondazione Prada were met with an unexpected scene this menswear season. Instead of stepping into one of Prada’s elaborate sets, they shuffled into an empty warehouse. Gone was the oozing slime and the carpeted scaffolding, the plush meadow beneath your feet and the office chairs. In their place, the Fondazione’s Deposito was stripped to its bare walls, with the floor covered only in simple, flower-shaped rugs. If it weren’t already obvious that, this season, Miuccia and Raf were taking things in a different direction, the collection’s title, A Change of Tone, let it be clear.

The collection’s show notes, which came in at an uncharacteristically succinct 37 words, were equally all about change. They spoke of “a shift of attitude – dismantling of meaning, and dismantling power” and suggested the collection was themed around “non-conformist harmonies, new movements.” On the runway, the first model marched out in a pair of short shorts with a clean white shirt tucked brusquely into the front. A perfect outfit for the sweltering heat of Milan at the moment and a further example of Miuccia and Raf’s anti-styling, which they’ve really latched onto in the past few seasons.

Then came some more classically mismatched Prada-isms, such as a brown leather jacket paired with bare legs and a pair of flip flops. There were car coats that were worn over Kill Bill-yellow tracksuits and military shirts bunched into shorts. Business on top, party on the bottom was very much the through-line of the collection. There was a whole array of headwear, such as the whirlwind raffia hats that almost obscured the whole face and extremely cute conical hats that looked straight out of the Moomins‘ universe.

Backstage, Miuccia and Raf suggested that the collection was about simple elegance. They spoke of pairing things back, not being lead by grand concepts but keeping things instinctual. At the end, Raf even suggested that this was the easiest collection he’s ever done.