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Prada F/W 1996

Art / Architecture / Design / Fashion

Prada

Fall/ Winter 1996

Miuccia Prada, a name synonymous with modernity and reinvention, has long been a leader in forward thinking design and innovation. Case in point, Prada’s fall/winter 1996 collection, a subversive, minimalistic response to the standard woman’s wear styles of the 1990’s.

Posted March 1st, 2019 By Colby Mugrabi

One of the most iconic runway moments of the past three decades, Prada’s collection of cubist-style prints and muted hues sought reference from the 1960s and 70s, while catapulting 20th century fashion into a new era. Miuccia’s subtle manipulation of shape, color, material and silhouette, fosters collections that are both unfalteringly cool and unarguably timeless. For fall/winter 1996, the designer employed all such techniques to prove why every woman wants and needs to be a Prada woman.

As the show commenced, 90s supermodels sauntered down the runway in structured suiting and simple daywear rendered in shades of khaki, brown and mustard yellow. Heavy fabrics offered a sense of solidity and weight to the collection, seen in thick wool calf-length skirts and tailored trousers, many styled with nothing but an effortless camel turtleneck or grey V-neck sweater. A retro text motif was scattered throughout the season’s opening looks, as geometric argyle-patterns were introduced mid-show – a motif that has since been reinterpreted by countless designers and even reintroduced by Prada herself, for the brand’s fall/winter 2012 show. The season’s featured eveningwear took shape in a number of lilac and mossy sheer gowns subtly embellished with glittering seams – yet another of Prada’s now trademark finishing techniques.

Over the past three decades Miuccia Prada has shown season-after-season that her brilliance lies in her singular ability to approach fashion design with a restrained, architectural eye; a unique talent that defined the brand’s fall/winter 1996 collection.