Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the two designers behind Prada, are well aware that fashion is about more than clothes. However, backstage after their menswear show in Milan on Sunday, the duo said the volatile present moment was a difficult one to translate to a collection. “You talk about the world now,” said Prada “or you talk about fashion … The two things together, in this moment, are difficult.”
The collection was, therefore, “uncomfortable”. Rather than meaning the clothes were not pleasant to wear – this is luxury fashion, after all – there were disparate elements put together in the same outfit: the top of a red sou’wester over a trenchcoat, for example, or a yellow scoop-neck jumper with cuffs of a shirt falling out the sleeve. (There were also some useful unexpected styling tips, such as wallets stuffed in a back pocket, or brightly coloured shoe laces).
Asked about the role of the designer now, Simons responded: “We ask ourselves that question every day. [We might not answer it but] the fact that we [ask the] question is important. You cannot be in an ivory tower and not look around.”
Simons said the connections between fashion and politics had changed: “In the past, people did react to world situations with the way they dressed, if you go to the 60s or 70s and further back. Now, it’s not directly a reaction [but] we feel like we should not sit still, we want to try.”
He pointed to the deconstructed tailoring, as with those shirt cuffs, as one way to reject the image of the political elite. “We don’t want the American corporate kind of masculine power,” said Simons. “No, make it youthful.”
“Now is a moment of big changes,” said Prada. “Who knows the future? [But] what do you want to keep? What can you transform? How can you learn from this?” Based on this collection, having more questions than answers has rarely looked so good.
Dolce & Gabbana’s show on Saturday has also become a talking point during the menswear shows, thanks to what looks like an entirely white cast of models, despite the show being titled The Portrait of Man.
Fashion commentators including Blakely Neiman Thornton, Louis Pisano, Brown Fashion Girl, boringnotcom and Lyas have posted on Instagram about the casting. Lyas posted a video calling it “50 shades of white”, pointing out the “audacity” of the title. With more than 41,000 likes, comments underneath the video showed support for his arguments.
This is not the first time Dolce & Gabbana has been at the centre of controversy around race. In 2012, it produced earrings featuring what looked like Blackamoor figures. In 2016, the brand named a shoe “slave sandal”. And in 2018, there were adverts that featured culturally insensitive images of a Chinese model attempting to eat pasta and cannoli with chopsticks. In response, Stefano Gabbana allegedly sent a direct message on Instagram to a user who had criticised the advert, in which he referred to China as “ignorant dirty smelling mafia”. The brand responded that their Instagram account, and that of Gabbana, had been hacked.
At Prada’s last menswear show in June the brand was called out for cultural appropriation when models wore footwear with the distinctive toe-ring design of India’s traditional Kolhapuri sandal, which dates back to the 12th century.
After the Maharashtra chamber of commerce complained, Prada’s head of corporate responsibility, Lorenzo Bertelli, responded: “We acknowledge the sandals … are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear, with a centuries-old heritage.” In February a limited edition collection of sandals, manufactured in India in collaboration with artisans from the Maharashtra and Karnataka regions, is due to be released by the brand.
• This article was amended on 19 January 2026. An earlier version said that in June Prada had said it would work with Indian artisans on designs inspired by Kolhapuri sandal but that nothing could be seen relating to that on the website. In fact, the brand is planning to launch a limited edition of sandals, made in collaboration with artisans from the Maharashtra and Karnataka regions, in February.
