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Milan Fashion WeekRunway Review· 3 min read· in Shopping & Reviews

Prada Spring-Summer 2027 Collection Puts Skirts Center Stage at Milan Fashion Week

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons dedicated their Spring/Summer 2027 runway show entirely to the skirt, exploring its versatility through distinct looks. The collection reimagined the classic garment with industrial materials, high slits, and unexpected pairings like bra tops and utility jackets.

By Nabil Faris

Designers & Brand Leadership 50%Fashion Critics & Editors 50%
Designers & Brand Leadership
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons view the skirt as a foundational canvas for endless experimentation and female autonomy.
Fashion Critics & Editors
Industry reviewers praised the collection for its subversive take on traditional femininity and its highly wearable separates.

Perspectives this story doesn't cover

  • Retail Buyers
  • Everyday Consumers

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have eliminated trousers from their Spring/Summer 2027 collection, dictating that the skirt will be the foundational garment of the upcoming season. The designers dedicated their entire Milan Fashion Week presentation to the silhouette, pairing knee-length and midi skirts with minimalist bra tops to establish a new uniform for 2027. The runway show at the Prada Foundation transformed the everyday item into a canvas for industrial materials, crystal embellishments, and sheer layered fabrics. "The skirt as object," the brand's show notes declared, describing the collection as an "interrogation of this single, universal garment, through protean variation."[1][3][4]

The collection anchors its aesthetic on the combination of heavy skirts and barely-there tops, a formula that dominated the runway. By stripping away other variables, the designers used the skirt's linear shape as a strict parameter to test how construction and styling alter a familiar form. "We were fascinated by the way Prada skirts, not alone but in particular, stand the test of time," Simons explained.[1][3][4]

Industrial utility meets hyperfeminine detailing across the collection. Heavy wools and distressed leather jackets contrast with ultra-sheer organza, while raw-hem sweater vests are layered over delicate silk slips. The contrast highlights the versatility of the skirt, which Prada has long championed as a personal uniform. The designer once noted that "for me, the skirt is like a T-shirt."[1][3]

The collection contrasted heavy industrial materials like distressed leather with delicate sheer fabrics.

Fastenings and structural components are pulled to the exterior, turning functional hardware into decoration. Exposed, enlarged button hooks and raw edges appear on kilt-like wool garments, while other skirts feature high slits that reveal silk underwear beneath. The styling choices push the garments away from traditional office wear, embracing a more undone energy characterized by hairstylist Guido Palau's ratty, unbrushed hair—a look returning from the fall 2025 season.[3]

Fastenings and structural components are pulled to the exterior, turning functional hardware into decoration.

The color palette bleeds from faded Easter egg pastels into vivid acid tones. A tomato-red skirt with a high slit opened the show, followed by chartreuse leather, bubblegum-pink pleats, and 1960s-inspired psychedelic micro-florals. Accessories included sunglasses with mismatched frames, tiny satin bags attached to bras, and bejewelled kitten heels.[1][2][3]

The collection also revived archival elements, most notably the exaggerated peep-toe "banana heel" originally introduced in the brand's Fall/Winter 2007 show nearly 20 years ago. The designers also brought back the structured arm bands from Spring/Summer 2022 and the sheer layering techniques seen in Fall/Winter 2026.[4]

Prada revived its archival 'banana heel,' originally introduced in 2007, for the Spring/Summer 2027 collection.

The focus on the skirt marks a continuation of a long-standing house obsession. In 2005, Prada held a blockbuster exhibition titled "Waist Down" at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, celebrating the garment's role in the brand's history. The Spring/Summer 2027 collection coincides with the opening of Prada Galleria, an 8-floor retail space in Milan's historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which houses a permanent exhibit exploring the label's evolution since its founding in 1913.[2]

By elevating a single, everyday garment to the sole focus of a major runway presentation, Prada challenges the fashion industry's reliance on constant novelty. The collection signals a shift toward maximizing the potential of foundational wardrobe staples, proving that a single silhouette, when pushed to its structural limits, offers more versatility than a closet full of disparate trends.[1]

The stakes

By elevating a single, everyday garment to the sole focus of a major runway presentation, Prada challenges the fashion industry's reliance on constant novelty. The collection signals a shift toward maximizing the potential of foundational wardrobe staples over fleeting trends.

The essentials

  • Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons eliminated trousers from their Spring/Summer 2027 collection to focus entirely on the skirt.
  • The runway presentation featured skirts paired predominantly with minimalist bra tops and bandeau tops.
  • Industrial materials like distressed leather and heavy wool were contrasted with ultra-sheer organza and silk.
  • The collection revived archival elements, including the 2007 'banana heel' and 2022 structured arm bands.
  • The show coincided with the opening of Prada Galleria, an 8-floor retail and exhibition space in Milan.

Timeline

  1. 1913

    Mario Prada founds the fashion house in Milan, Italy.

  2. 2005

    Prada hosts the 'Waist Down' exhibition in Shanghai, celebrating the skirt's role in the brand's history.

  3. 2007

    The brand debuts the exaggerated 'banana heel' in its Fall/Winter collection.

  4. September 22, 2026

    Prada unveils its Spring/Summer 2027 collection at Milan Fashion Week, dedicating all 63 looks to the skirt.

Perspectives explored

The Designers' Vision

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons view the skirt as a foundational canvas for endless experimentation.

For Prada and Simons, the skirt is not a symbol of constraint but an "emblem of autonomy" engineered for freedom. By stripping away trousers and dresses, they forced a rigorous exploration of a single garment's potential. The designers argue that focusing on one familiar object allows for a deeper interrogation of construction, material, and form, proving that true innovation doesn't require constant reinvention of the silhouette itself.

Fashion Critics' Reception

Industry reviewers praised the collection for its subversive take on traditional femininity and its highly wearable separates.

Critics highlighted the tension between "ugly chic" and hyperfeminine tropes, noting how the collection successfully merged Prada's off-kilter aesthetic with Simons's industrial edge. Reviewers pointed out that the bra-and-skirt formula, while provocative on the runway, translates easily into highly covetable, mix-and-match separates for the retail market. The deliberate styling choices—such as undone hair and exposed hardware—were celebrated for injecting a raw, nocturnal energy into otherwise classic garments.

Sources

Source coverage

4 outlets

2 viewpoints surfaced

Designers & Brand Leadership 50%Fashion Critics & Editors 50%
  1. [1]ELLEFashion Critics & Editors

    Prada Spring 2027 Review: Fantastic, Maximalist Skirts

    Read on ELLE
  2. [2]South China Morning PostDesigners & Brand Leadership

    Milan Fashion Week: Prada spring/summer 2027 spotlights the skirt, the brand's 'obsession'

    Read on South China Morning Post
  3. [3]W MagazineFashion Critics & Editors

    For Spring 2027, Prada Puts the Humble Skirt Under the Microscope

    Read on W Magazine
  4. [4]Who What WearDesigners & Brand Leadership

    In Prada World, Pants Are Dead and Skirts Sit Atop the Throne

    Read on Who What Wear

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