In the midst of fashion month, a major announcement from one of the world's best known brands has sent shockwaves through the industry.
On Sunday, at a last minute press conference in Milan - where Prada showcased their AW20 collection just days ago - Raf Simons was announced as the brand's new co-creative director alongside Miuccia Prada.
The change will be effective from 2 April 2020, with their first collection to be womenswear SS21, presented in Milan in September 2020.
The duo will work in partnership together, 'with equal responsibilities for creative input and decision-making,' say the brand.
'Prada is a brand that I have been interested in my whole life. I cannot wait to express to all of you the dialogue I will have with Mrs Prada and her team,' Simons said at the press conference, according to Business of Fashion.
'To be really honest, Mr Bertelli approached me right after my exit from Calvin Klein. Miuccia and I had a conversation about creativity in today’s fashion system. And it brought me to open dialogue with many designers, not just Mrs Prada. We have to re-look at how creativity can evolve in today’s fashion system.'
Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada are often held up as 'designers’ designers', endlessly cited by new and emerging brands as a source of inspiration. That’s been the case since Simons launched his eponymous menswear label in 1995, shaking up menswear by referencing subcultures and introducing new silhouettes, and Miuccia Prada shook up her family brand in the late 1970s.
Most recently, Simons was chief creative officer at Calvin Klein until Autumn 2018. Before that he was creative director of Christian Dior from 2012 to 2015.
It’s not the first time that the two have come together, with Raf Simons taking the creative reins at Jil Sander while it was owned by the Prada group in 2005. The two have often openly engaged in conversations, entertaining the idea of working together.
‘Could you imagine if, one season, Miuccia did the Raf Simons brand, then I’d go to Marc Jacobs, and Marc would come and do Prada? It would be so exciting!’ Simons said in conversation System in 2016.
Clearly Marc Jacobs hasn’t entered the equation, but having just appeared in a Givenchy campaign, there’s a clear sense of camaraderie among fashion’s creatives today, shaking it’s reputation as uncomfortably cut-throat, more akin to The Devil Wears Prada.
In the press conference today, Simons and Mrs. Prada alluded to that, saying ‘At this moment, lots of creatives feel troubled,’ with increasing pressure to grow into multi-billion pound star brands as part of international conglomerates’ portfolios of luxury brands. There is also increasing pressure on designers’ mental health, with the impact of Alexander McQueen’s death still quietly felt.
What this means for fashion is perhaps more symbolic for creativity, rather than beneficial in monetary terms. It’s worth noting that ready-to-wear at Calvin Klein wasn’t in its best shape during Raf Simons’ tenure between 2016 and 2018 (although multiple factors would have contributed to this), and Prada has suffered with strategic missteps in recent years.
However, fashion is fundamentally a creative sport. Both Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons recognise that, having frequently referenced art, and invested in creative projects with well known artists (Prada owns the Fondazione Prada, a contemporary art space in Milan, and Simons has worked with Andy Warhol’s estate and artist Sterling Ruby at his own brand and Dior).
So we can expect something bold, creatively speaking: something uncomfortable at first, pushing the boundaries of taste, as both are known to do with clashing colour combinations and prints, and chunky shoes and accessories.
What we can count on is that Prada's SS21 show will be the talk of Milan Fashion Week in September.
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