GREATEST HITS: PRADA (PART ONE 1990-2000)

throughout the nineties, prada has been one of the most influential force in fashion. spearheading the minimalist movement that would eventually define the decade.
since launching the house's ready to wear line in 1989 which at that time the world at large was still unfamiliar with miuccia prada's design sensibility, many criticized the collection as being out of step with the general mood of that moment. it wouldn't be until a few years later when prada's innate sensitivity to the needs of the modern woman and an uncanny ability to "predict" the direction fashion is meant to go that made the world finally took notice and realized that she isn't a designer who is out of step with the times, but one who is constantly ahead of it.
as the woman who is responsible for the nylon bag craze of the eighties, one of the hallmarks of the house is in its fabric innovation. utilizing materials not usually associated with luxury goods such as velcro, rubber or plastic and using it in a way that is so obviously practical one wonders why no one has thought of it before. by combining design and an understanding of modern needs and pragmatic solutions, prada steered the fashion world out of the excess of the eighties and into a new sense of modern dressing where women did not have to sacrifice function for beauty.
the irony however with prada's take on beauty is that she also constantly challenged our perception of it. first with her introduction of minimalism after the world was so used to idea of over the top glamour and supermodels, only to radically change it again just as the rest of the world was getting used to it with her "geek chic" collection of spring/summer 1996 where the seventies reference and odd colour palette threw the world a curve ball that surprisingly caused a ripple effect that can still be felt even now, thirteen years later after its debut.
for her first collection in the 2000s, prada managed to take control of the helm yet again and after a few years when everyone in fashion continued to experiment with the idea of good and bad taste, prada unleashed to an unsuspecting world a collection that played on all the traditional notions of femininity with all it's lady like qualities and toyed with the idea of prada's perverse and subversive take on sexuality. it obviously profoundly affected the rest of the fashion world in the beginning of the new millennium, but that is for part two. i'm hella hungry and i needs to eat.


p.s. new layout. i like big pictures so i changed my template but i fucking hate my banner and i pretty much suck at photoshop. if any of you want to make me one i will love you forever.