If the Autumn/Winter 2013 cooker cutter Prada man came straight from the street, then the Prada woman was coming back from the grave. She was a spookier soul than her male counterpart, complete with wet bedraggled hair. Miuccia had resurrected various looks from the past and given them a 2013 spin. So there were the power dressing suits, updated with beautifully tailored cuffs and metallic belts. Mixed in were looks from the days of nineties grunge - asymmetric dresses layered over long-sleeved tops and worn with ugly clunky ankle boots. Also thrown into the mix were retro gingham frocks that could have been straight from the fifties and stiff suits that looked decidedly forties. Even Westwood got a bit of a revival in those off-the-shoulder bodices and full skirts.
As usual with Prada she'd also referenced herself - something only the best designers can do. We've all gone nuts over the past few seasons for her heavy embellishments, so she'd redelivered and rehashed them, only this time in a way that looked like they could have been sitting untouched in an attic for a few decades or so. This was Grandma's Prada - from the furs to the prim below the knee skirts (the unrivalled length of the season) and tweed tailoring.
The setting - a wasteland comprised of drapes and boulders complete with screens showing ghostly animals and humans moving around - echoed the dystopian spirit. This was about discarded fashion gems, revisited and revitalised by a new generation. They do say one man's junk is another man's treasure. Hence why the Prada hits of seasons gone by all came back in new guises, from the clompy platform shoes to the perfect overcoats.
'Make do and mend' could have been the mantra. Layering and mis-matched styling helped hammer home the home-made vibe. This may have been more obviously opulent than her menswear ode to normal dressing, but the ethos of the everyday remained. Prada is, after all, the brand that can slot seamlessly into any woman's closet, from sleek conservative dressers to young maximalists (see Anna Wintour and Fran Burns at today's show each rocking one of last season's japanese floral furs with very different effect). This season's Prada, a cherry-picked treasure-trove of hits, was akin to stepping into the world's most perfect vintage shop. And who wouldn't want to play dress up with Miuccia?
