If you needed proof that Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons are the only people who can make a shirt cuff look like a philosophical statement, Autumn/Winter 2026 just provided it. Titled ‘Before and Next,’ the collection hit the concrete floors of the Fondazione Prada with a distinct sense of wrongness that felt, ironically, completely right.
The silhouette this season is long, lean and a little bit strict. Coats sit high on the chest, buttoned with a sort of purposeful austerity that practically forces you to improve your posture. But then comes the disruption: those exaggerated cuffs. They spill out from under the outerwear, breaking the clean, severe lines with a burst of fabric that feels calculated and slightly rebellious. It creates a fantastic tension between the buttoned-up executive and the artist trying to break out, balancing restraint with a sudden flash of excess.
The trench coats – Prada’s perennial canvas – went under the knife. They were dissected, chopped and put back together with cloak-like overlays and sharp, modular capelets. The palette played a huge role here, grounding the weirdness in reality. Earthy neutrals and utility cappuccino tones provided a safe base, allowing those flashes of emerald green and rose to pop without looking costume-y.
Then there are the prints. Simons’ love for a graphic collage is alive and well, but here it feels archaeological. Fragments of classical sculpture and Renaissance details appear on the garments like recovered memories or clues from a museum archive. Everything was grounded in a belief that clothes can carry impressions of life apart from style.
Front row, the guest list was as eclectic as the layering. Troye Sivan looked every bit the Prada poster boy, likely taking notes on which oversized cuff would best suit the stage, while Nicholas Hoult leaned into the brand’s intellectual vibe, looking like the world’s most stylish history professor. They were joined by the likes of Jack Harlow, Damson Idris and Maya Hawke.
The show played with what is usually hidden – the structure of a cuff, the interior of a trench, the unexpected colour under a storm flap – inviting viewers to see garments as records of time and experience, not just objects of desire.
Prada was on a mission to encourage us to mess with a classic until it becomes interesting again. They posed the question: “What can we build, from what we have learned?” and presented a visual evolution suggesting the idea that in the face of uncertainty, clothes should be precise and offer clarity.
Discover the collection here.
photography. courtesy of Prada
words. Gennaro Costanzo
