Simply Abu Dhabi XXII

2 8 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I All the motifs allude to movement and swift action – as do the silhouettes of short shorts. Even the design details – the long pull-tab zippers on knit tops, the shimmering sequins on a car coat, or the overflowing layers of fabric spilling out from the waistline – all accelerated the idea of alacrity. The racing theme continues in a series of zip- up, all-in-one jumpsuits in navy with contrasting orange, yellow and red piping, like an elegant Formula One uniform, and trainers with exaggerated perforated cut-out circles. Miuccia Prada clearly has a need for speed – get the goods and get out. It was a message the designer hammers home via every aspect of this collection. Tiny short-shorts were a recurring theme, paired with boxy jackets or worn with zip-up tops that appeared under shirting. That sporting touch became more exaggerated in the vest tops, again worn with shorts, but Prada was reticent about the pieces being termed ‘sportswear’, a phrase which has come to dominate menswear in recent years. “I didn’t want it to be sporty. It was about being more stripped back, human and real.” Prada’s artfully dishevelled combination of sculptured glossy jackets shrugged off the shoulders and the gauzy shirts, half-untucked and loose, like a nonchalant afterthought, conjure up teenage schoolboy images. Playful prints and the label’s signature colour blocking and jolts of colour – such as the yellow top stitching – brighten the grey, navy and black palette and again give a particularly youthful feel. Perhaps Prada wants to take us back to our years of growing up – possibly the most vulnerable and raw time in our lives. Prada said of the collection: “I tried to give this a title, and the first title that came out was ‘post- modest’. Not post-modern: post-modest. Post- industrial, post-pop; departing from those kinds of concepts and making it contemporary,” said Prada in typical cryptic fashion. “It was about modesty, humanity and simplicity.”