Day three in Milan and Prada gets seriously seductive

Taking a small piece of black lace as her starting point, (the fabric we perhaps most associate with weddings, funerals and sexy underpinnings), she made almost an entire collection from it. From suits and trousers to dresses and coats, it was an honest, powerful and modern message - a completely new look made from an old and traditional idea. And a statement that somehow avoided obvious sexual overtones (try that in head to toe black lace), but instead looked clear and simple and summed up the mood of restraint preoccupying many of fashion’s most powerful designers right now.

So how did she do it? Architectural, minimal tailoring that felt more like 90s Prada than the chiffon swathed flower fairies of last season; a serious and slim mid calf length silhouette, high collars, stern suits and dresses crafted entirely in lace, were made modest with crisp blue cotton shirts worn underneath.

And then there was the music. Like a thriller spy movie soundtrack, and the models - marching robotically, wearing thick black eyebrows and steely expressions, like southern Italian professional widows or fashion’s chicest secret agents.

At a time when other designers pitch their commercial compasses at the ostentation of the East (i.e. Moscow!), Miuccia is a designer who reacts to the times - her latest show reflected the restrained mood in the West but also had a certain darkness to it and a slight feeling of foreboding - the most honest and forceful collection we have seen all week and possible of the entire season.

Click here to to the latest pictures from the show...

By Melissa Dick

Posted: 20 February 2008