Prada: Sibylline chic amid zinnias

Finally, the Miu Miu gal has found the ideal date. It’s her big cousin Prada, who, like Miu Miu, has taken to appearing in micro shorts and shirt-dresses, exposing acres of flesh and attitude.

Her new Prada date is in an upbeat mood, unlike the menswear industry in Italy, which is still in something of a funk.

Prada joint designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons had plenty of ideas in this Spring/Summer collection staged on a sunny Sunday in Milan. Notably, pairing track pants with finely tailored Super 100 wool blazers. It’s a mix that can often look sloppy, but their single-stripe pants and crisp jackets gave the look plenty of pep.

The mood was nonchalant, romantic even, aided by the latest design for the massive Prada show space. A wide-open hall dotted with black-and-white carpets cut into flower shapes—poppies, zinnias or azaleas. Baggy shirts in the same motif—though in bright colors—added to the sense of an offbeat summer.

Opening the show were lads in nylon shorts tucked up like bloomers, or dressed just in cotton shirts paired with ranch-hand leather jackets, with not a pair of pants in sight. Meanwhile, military shirts or green NATO cable sweaters—both cut as dresses—came with a new series of chunky backpacks, none of them in the brand’s signature black.

Though the best looks were the waxy, Mexican-style, roughly stitched One Eyed Jacks leather jackets worn with yellow single-stripe track pants. Thousands of hip guys will want these.

Half the cast marched in basket weave cloche hats, often worn with white-rimmed shades. A daffy attitude, given the crunching soundtrack—a series of tracks from situationist legends The KLF, which varied from stadium house music to what sounded like whales belching.

These were ideal clothes for the new Mr. Prada — increasingly a K-pop star or Thai boy band member, if the front row was any indication.

A memorable show for sure, though a somewhat arcane vision. A view backed up by the sibylline show notes from Miuccia and Raf that were positively Spartan and lapidary.

“A shift of attitude – dismantling of meaning, and dismantling power. Direct. Limitless elemental compositions. Free ease. The elements – land, air, sun, nature. Sense. Non-conformist harmonies, new movements. Impulse. Lover’s lake, peak’s end, the last swim. Imaginary places,” it read. Err, right.