In case you missed the news last night: Raf Simons was named co-creative director of Prada effective on April 2. His first show will be a spring/summer 2021 womenswear show in September in Milan.
“The partnership, encompassing all creative facets of the Prada label, is born from a deep reciprocal respect and from an open conversation—it is a mutual decision, proposed and determined by both parties,” said Prada in a statement. “Conceptually, it is also a new approach to the very definition of creative direction for a fashion brand—a strong challenge to the idea of singularity of creative authorship… As times change, so should creativity.”
For many, Simons’ new designation was a long time coming. In 2005, the designer was appointed as creative director for Jil Sander by its parent company, the Prada Group.
In 2012, Simons stepped down from Jil Sander and moved on to work with labels like Christian Dior and Calvin Klein. Even then, people couldn’t help but notice how Prada and Simons may have inspired each other based on their past collections. Vogue shared photos from Prada’s fall 2008 and Jil Sander’s spring 2011 shows where both ensembles had the same silhouettes and peplum detail in front. There were also some similarities between pieces from Prada and Calvin Klein.
Perhaps the most telling sign of Simons’ future designation at Prada was when fashion fans noticed how Prada’s fall/winter 2020 menswear collection last January had many “Raf-isms.”
just saying: he loves prada and like, there were many raf-isms pic.twitter.com/22evvwjjCj
— Emma Hope Allwood / EHA (@emmahopeall) January 13, 2020
the BICEP EXPOSURE pic.twitter.com/ZHWlYc7Dhc
— Emma Hope Allwood / EHA (@emmahopeall) January 13, 2020
Too raf to be prada
— @205w39ny ʕ•̫͡•ʕ (@205w39ny) January 13, 2020
I don’t know why, but I swore I saw something few weeks back saying Raf was at Prada
— Josh Jacobs (@jaydeejacobs) January 13, 2020
What does Simons’ involvement mean for Prada’s future? Vogue’s prediction is that Simons will bring innovation (brought by his background in industrial and furniture design) to Prada’s more classical looks. Financial Times noted that this co-creative director deal might also boost Prada’s e-commerce presence to compete with labels like Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
“Prada tapping Raf Simons is a message to the industry that fashion in this day and age needn’t, and probably shouldn’t, have a singular view,” Maria Milano, head of womenswear at Harrods, told Financial Times.
Prada also acknowledged the need for this innovation in their statement: “Innovation is an inherent facet of the identity of Prada: a willingness to push boundaries, to experiment, to take opportunities to advance. If the notion of a partnership is to work jointly, the result of that conversation may not only be product but also the propagation of a thought and a culture. A pure vision of creativity, with the product a vehicle for these thoughts.”
Guess we have to wait for Simons’ first collection in September to see how he’ll redefine Prada for the years to come. In fact, there are already rumors that he might take over the label once Miuccia retires.
Photo courtesy of Raf Simons’ Instagram account
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