Back in the 90s, Miuccia Prada introduced “ugly chic“, a style so wildly anti-fashion it polarized the entire fashion industry. Yesterday, together with her creative partner Raf Simons, Prada presented a collection so notorious, bizarre and “wrong” that one can either hate-hate it or hate-love it. I’m grateful to both of them for showing a collection that sparked true dismay and confusion – finally, fashion that doesn’t just deliver momentary visual satisfaction or, at worse, lack of any impression. Like a remix of Prada’s greatest hits seen through the lens of a teen who’s living a “Brat” summer 365 days in a year (and probably loves acid), the tackiness, ill-fittingness and clumsiness of this collection reaches perverse levels. So perverse, you feel a kinky affection to it. Yes, contemporary fashion can still make waves, edge the internet so sharply it will spill venomous hate in response, and leave the viewers electrified – with unhinged ecstasy or absolute frustration. Prada and Simons are still capable of shaking the status quo of aesthetics. This is “ugly chic, extreme“.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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