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Prada: For Hip (but Sensitive) Souls
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Milan, Jun 26, 2002/FWD/ --- I, for one, have never worn granddad's diapers - unlike a
half dozen models in the clever and ironic Prada men's spring/summer collection presented
Monday in Milan.
These were not your classic white cotton diapers but black or deep gray woolly versions,
the sort one could imagine boys wearing in an austere Victorian boarding school, especially
if their parents had a vaguely warped sense of humor.
They emerged towards the end of a fine Prada collection that was all about subtle, subversive
fashion for the sensitive male.
The collection opened in Prada's headquarters with a selection of linen looks - suits and flat
pants without belt loops in Roman purple, faded salmon or golfing green worn with white cotton
shirts that were cool yet commercial.
They came with the first of a series of brilliant glove-like moccasins that will be sure-fire
best-sellers.
Miuccia's big idea from a previous season of making entire garments out of tie fabrics
appeared again, this time in wonderful Bermuda shorts and even in the revolutionary new
footgear.
The designer had a great time playing around, cutting them thin and finished with suspender
hoops or weaving them into Hawaiian style leis worn around the neck.
With the worldwide recession showing no sign of ending any day soon, and consumers
restricting their style purchases to just bags and accessories, Miuccia wisely sent out some
great soft calfskin leather bags, in particular a series of hipster bags that hung holster
like below the waist.
Not so much shooting from the hip as looking effortlessly hip - no mean achievement in the
current heat wave hitting Milan.
If only the city's fashion labels had such hot bottom lines.
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