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Prada: Femme Fatales Rule

Leave it to Miuccia Prada to create the most original collection of the current international season on Tuesday, Sept. 23, with a thoroughly memorable metallic moment, where the models may have stumbled badly on the rambling catwalk, but the fashion aesthetic soared.

Memorable in more ways than one, since the actual materials were mainly feather light and micro thin metals with a memory that imparted them with unforgettable shapes, twists and dimples.

The silhouette had a Fifties feel, with just below the knee cuts and off the shoulder tops and jackets, recalling a decade that heralded the explosion of the sexual revolution.

The racy quality was evident in the naughty copper, gold and brass hued bras, open-backed jackets and revealing tummies, marking these clothes out as diametrically opposed to Miuccia's previous "Sexy Nun" collection. The models, finished with pushed up chignons and ladylike pearl earrings, recalled Fifties glamour queens like Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.

Coats came with circuit board patterns, gowns in almost technical blueprints, as Elvis Presley crooned and a steel guitar twanged out the entrance of a femme fatale.

"Metallic yes, but also back to basics," gasped Miuccia backstage, with a wink that hinted the basics were very bold.

Showing dollops of lingerie frill and trims added to the wicked moment, even if their use as straps on espadrille platforms was a major technical flaw. One poor model collapsed in a terrible tailspin, earning a huge roar of applause for bravely pulling herself up and finishing the catwalk shoes in hand. At least three nearly landed on their tails, partly due to the bizarre catwalk in Prada’s Milan headquarters show space. The series of black two-foot-long fish stencils indicated the route, but their slippery finish led to a lot of confusion.

But to focus too much on this would be a mistake, for what mattered here was the latest swing at brainy sexuality by the world's most influential designer, for that is what Miuccia remains.

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