New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-02)

38 THECUT|MARCH2–15, 2020

because they were producing so many

shows a year and with theatrical staging.

In 2004, Prada, in an interview with

Michael Specter of The New Yorker,

talked about the push-pull between her

own independent ideas and an

immensely successful brand. She said, “I

want the name Prada to be huge. But

also I want to make what I want to make

and what I want to wear.” It’s safe to say

that has become harder.

Certainly, Prada, 70, and Simons, 52,

have a long, intertwined history. Both

have a wide visual vocabulary, ranging

from nostalgia to futurism to youth

culture. They also connect in their

passion for contemporary art. And

Simons once worked for Prada’s

husband and business partner, Patrizio

Bertelli, when he chose Simons in 2005

to be creative director of Jil Sander.

At the time, Simons was doing his

alternative men’s label out of Antwerp

with a relatively small but discerning fan

base compared with Jil Sander’s. It was

Simons’s first job in the competitive

arena of women’s fashion, and it

changed the course of his career. He

went on to Dior and then, in 2016, to

Calvin Klein; he left there in December

2018. Despite strong sales and mostly
      glowing reviews in the first few seasons,
      a weak quarter and perhaps other
      factors led to a breakup. The company
      has not replaced Simons, nor has it
      staged shows since.
      Simons says Bertelli contacted him
      right after the Calvin Klein exit. “Mr.
      Bertelli emailed me, then he called and
      he asked me to come to Milan. It was a

veryopendialogueaboutPrada’s

futurein general.”Later,there were

similardiscussionswithboth Bertelli

andPrada.As Simonssaid,“Then,

outof that,camethisthinking: Why

notdo it together?”

Pradainsistedthat theappointment

ofSimonsis nota preludetoher

retirement.“Oh,no,” shesaid. “To me,

todobetter,toworkharder,I’m very

interestedinthis.”

Bethatasit may, Pradaand Bertelli

areat least entertainingtheidea of

succession.Andif everything comes up

weirdandwonderfulonthePrada

runway this fall, they will be really

ahead. That’s another message to the

industry, where great founders tend to

think they’re immortal. Giorgio Armani

and Ralph Lauren, are you listening? PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON; COURTESY OF MARC JACOBS; COURTESY OF DIOR; COURTESY OF PYER MOSS; COURTESY OF BALENCIAGA; COURTESY OF PRADA; COURTESY OF DRIES VAN NOTEN; COURTESY OF SAINT LAURENT; COURTESY OF GUCCI; COURTESY OF MIU MIU; COURTESY OF OWENSCORP; COURTESY OF MARNI; SEAN ZANNI/GETTY (SIMONS)

LOUIS VUITTON

shirt, top, skirt

and shoes, at

louisvuitton.com.

MARC JACOBS

dress and Stephen

Jones for Marc

Jacobs headpiece,

at marcjacobs.com.

DIOR dress,

at 21 E. 57thSt.

PYER MOSS

jacket and pants,

at pyermoss.com.

BALENCIAGA

gown, at 620

Madison Ave.

PRADA jacket

and skirt,

at prada.com.

DRIES VAN

NOTEN coat,

jeans,and boots,

at nordstrom.com.

SAINT LAURENT

BY ANTHONY

VACCARELLO

dress and shoes,

at 3 E. 57th St.

GUCCI dress,

hat, and boots,

at gucci.com.

MIU MIU dress,

boots, and bag,

at 11 E. 57thSt.

RICK OWENS

bodysuit, dress,

bag, and boots,

at 30 HowardSt.

MARNI

dress, at 822

Madison Ave.

Candle Key
2020 Spring Runway
(FROM PREVIOUS SPREAD)

asthemilanfallshows

wereending—amidthedreadful

newsofa surge inthenumberof

coronaviruscasesinItaly—aselect

numberofjournalistswere summoned

toa secretivepressconferenceat Prada.

Most couldhaveguessedthepurpose:

RafSimons,theinfluentialmenswear

designerwho’d recentlytriedtooverhaul

CalvinKlein,wasjoiningPrada.The

movehadbeenrumoredformonths.

Still,thenewscamewithan

unexpectedjolt:Simonswouldbeco-

designingthebrandwithMiuccia

Prada,beginningApril2,withtheirfirst

collectiontobeshowninMilanin

September. This isn’t a one-off

collaboration. As Prada said, “In theory,

it’sforever.”

So one of the best-known luxury

brands in the world will now draw on the

imaginations of two of the industry’s

most creative minds. “We think it’s

probably the first time that two

designers, two mature designers, decided

to work together,” said Prada, who was

wearing a navy sweater and pants with

an antique diamond necklace.

Does Prada—or any major luxury

brand—really need two huge talents to

design some interesting new clothes?

And at a time when a lot of consumers

are more attuned to a celebrity label

(think of the Rihanna-induced madness

at Bergdorf ’s during New York Fashion

Week) or maybe limiting their designer

purchases to shoes or a bag?

Well, yes. The message behindthe

Prada-Simons partnership is that

creativity matters. It should be themotor

of the luxury industry, and its products

(I mean clothes as well as accessories)

should be bold and risky. That’s the

definition of fashion. And for decades,

that was the assumption—that

designers, whether a Lagerfeld ora

Gaultier or a McQueen, had complete

license to disturb the peace.

But in the past few years, as Prada

and Simons themselves have

acknowledged in interviews, thereis less

and less time to actually create. When

Simons was creative director at Dior

(from 2012 to 2015, before Calvin

Klein), he and his team typically had

about a month to conceive and execute a

runway collection. That was partly

Raf Simons

Will Join

Miuccia

Prada

Inside a fashion

partnership

for the ages.

By Cathy Horyn

CH-CH-CHANGES

(^) ›