History is a social expression of the moment we live in: a continuous return of characters who traverse different eras, change, evolve, and then come back. Just like the cycle staged by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons for this Prada Womenswear Autumn/Winter 2026 collection. The influences of a creative current or an artistic movement regain relevance over time. The models chosen for the défilé are only fifteen, as if to represent the essential nature of the individual: the need to re-present oneself grounded in real, tangible elements, the desire to strip away the superfluous and return to recognising what truly matters. Everything flows, everything changes, everything returns. That before and next that allows one to consciously reflect on what has been, in order to move forward. Fifteen models, sixty looks. With each exit, a layer disappears, in a process of subtraction that leads to the essence.
Femininity is modern, as is the approach to tailoring. The most sensual pieces are embroidered with sparkling details, lengths are never exaggerated, shirts open, and tops become shorter. The color palette of the collection is carefully curated: serious tones such as black, gray, and dark blue are enlivened by warm and vibrant shades of red, light blue, pink, yellow, green, and brown. All of this is interspersed with patterns that carry a romantic aura, yet are broken up by rips and layered contrasts. The show begins with long coats in essential volumes; double-breasted styles return, along with sartorial pairings and classic masculine-cut shirts. Leather on jackets and coats transforms into long strips of fur applied to the sportier outerwear. In the knitwear offerings, cardigans open with deep zippers, and warm, multicoloured scarves inject a creative push into the more formal looks. Skirts and dresses fall just above the knee, materials are alternated and layered, with different levels accentuating movement and fluidity as the collection gradually lightens. Semi-rigid tulle transparency is layered over sportier shorts in nylon or technical fabrics. Everything evokes home, recalling the perfectly human wardrobe every woman knows and wears in her daily life. The fifteen final looks, arrived at progressively through the show, reveal the true essence of the Prada Womenswear Autumn/Winter 2026 collection: two white cotton dresses with contrasting prints; a sartorial perspective with midi skirts and a shirt-cut dress; an ode to iconic nylon with a black fitted dress and coordinated shorts-and-top sets; knitwear details and embroidery with applied rhinestones; and the transparent tulle of dresses and skirts to close the show.
“Layering is meaningful. Within the collection, pieces are laid over each other, and then taken away—and in that process, our perceptions of the individual garments, the outfits and the women who wear them constantly transform.”
It is a collection that can at times feel unsettling and uncomfortable, precisely because it is so authentic and direct in its narrative. Everything speaks to the multifaceted human character of the individual: the colours, the materials, the combinations of pieces, the styling of the collection, the choice of casting, and the decision to subtract rather than add. Every detail is designed to convey a journey that is at once modern and historical, contemporary and primal. Everything funnels through a shared perspective, told in a way that could reflect any one of us. Thoughts and distant eras, differing styles—all converge in a collection with many facets, stripped of every unnecessary flourish. A collective that embraces the certainty of what has been, the uncertainty of what is to come, yet with a strong will to move forward, to proceed with head held high and a respectful sense of duty. It is a home, or rather a world, that Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons narrate—a world that prompts reflection on the importance of shared values, of beauty, of novelty; on the importance of reconsidering the idea of beauty and the ability to continually transform it into something new and essential.
“We are interested in things which have been defined as beautiful, through history, but we seek to redefine them. Here, they are fragmented, fractured, with new contrasts discovered.”
