This afternoon in Milan, Prada ushered in a new chapter, one that saw Raf Simons make his debut as the new creative director alongside co–creative director Miuccia Prada. The spring 2021 collection explored the concept of uniform dressing, rethinking the Italian fashion house’s signatures—wrap coats, minimalist suiting, and the classic triangle logo plates—through an industrial lens. While showcasing individuality was key for the cast, which included 18 models making their runway debut, there was a throughline of effortlessly cool beauty with an androgynous edge.
“Both Raf and Miuccia wanted it to feel like a real style statement but make it feel modern and young,” said Guido Palau of conceptualizing the hair looks with the duo. “It was also about bringing a Raf synthesis to Prada and respecting Miuccia’s vision of women—that was all a part of the conversation.” One reference point was Isolated Heroes, a photography book of David Sims’s pictures of street-cast models for Simons’s spring 2000 show. “It gave the cast a real identity and style,” says Palau of the array of blunt cuts he gave the male models as the ’90s inched toward the noughties. Ahead of today’s presentation, Palau transformed 15 of the 18 new models with directional haircuts, many of which hinged on choppy, grown-out bangs that hit right at the cheekbones and felt intentionally “disconnected” from the rest of the hair. A few models with naturally Afro-textured hair, such as newcomer Ngozi Shalom, had their hair woven into an abbreviated cascade of twists that echoed the high-low shape for a similar “boyish cool” effect.