It’s time again for a conversation about men’s pants.
And Prada guides that conversation. At the final men’s show held here on Sunday, the models wore trousers in one shape and one shape only: calf tight. They were shrunk, oppressed, suppressed. These pants were so narrow that they hugged the tops of the models’ cowboy boots, creating the illusion of a merged pants-boot mutation.
As one showgoer put it on the way out, “Those were skinny pants.”
The shock of the shrunken pants hit particularly hard because the look was so different from what almost the entire audience was wearing. Many editors and celebrities embodied the wavy taste of the day and were dressed in trousers that stretched straight to supersize. (For the record, I was wearing jeans that were almost twice the size of anything the models were walking around in.)
Backstage after the show, Raf Simons, one half of the creative team that designs Prada, emphasized that he and Miuccia Prada were not making any sharp statements. The sleek silhouette, a resounding echo of 2000s menswear, simply suited this particular collection.
“We’re not really trying to dictate anything or make a theory,” said Mr. Simons, who was himself wearing loose-fitting pants.
But by the time I left the show, several friends (particularly those who tend to wear blousey pleated pants) had texted me about those tight pants. The pants scare was on.
Whether the Prada pair can turn the tide on tight trousers remains to be seen – and frankly seems unlikely. Mr. Simons has realized something about the role of designers today: they don’t do that Real no longer have the power to dictate broad trends.
And so, as surprising as those tight pants were, it might be best to look past them to what was otherwise a powerful Prada offering with a lot to chew on.
“We don’t want to limit ourselves,” Mr. Simons said after the show, which saw the models walk down a steep, multi-level runway constructed from scaffolding.
The collection, as the designers noted backstage, had a cinematic feel, although Mr. Simons was reluctant to name specific films that had inspired them. It was, he said, “up to the audience” to make their own assumptions.
Okay, I’ll give it a try. This audience member recognized ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller” in the confident overcoats with rough-edged fur collars, and “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” in a crafty pajama suit (literally, pajamas cut in the same way as a suit). Parkas with face coverings and oversized hoods were reminiscent of none other than Kenny McCormick from “South Park.”
There was also a bit of “My Own Private Idaho” shining through in plaid jackets and soft leather blazers that could have come straight from a thrift store. Much of the collection had an old-fashioned feel, especially the curled-toed cowboy boots that looked like they had a few hundred miles on them.
Between the tight pants, baby-doll T-shirts and bare-chested models, this was also, remarkably, the sexiest Prada men’s display in recent memory. As Ms. Prada reflected after the show (which took place a day before Donald Trump’s inauguration in the United States), “the world is becoming so conservative” and, with the AI revolution in full swing, it may be losing a piece of its force. humanity.
The collection, she said, “was about romance – inspiring, liberating instinct.” And maybe you should rethink the pants you wear.
