SHOW SEEN | a man between deadlines and daylight: observing Prada SS26

SHOW SEEN
Prada Spring/Summer 2026 Menswear, observed through my screen.

A change of tone.
That was the title. But also the gesture.

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons invited us back to Fondazione Prada, Milan, and something about it felt personal this time. Or maybe that’s just because I was there a few weeks ago. My boyfriend Sam and I walked through that exact entrance, with the fake-glass plastic columns. We exited through the same gallery the guests are now entering.

The setting
Guests seated along the perimeter, framing the runway like a wide, empty swimming pool. White and black daisy rugs scattered across the concrete floor, some with powder blue centers. I wouldn’t mind one under my dining table.

The audience was made up of stylish men I didn’t recognise, dressed in full Prada looks. One of the few familiar faces: Benedict Cumberbatch. Thai actress Tipnaree Weerawatnodom was spotted too. A few others were identified in the comments by name (Kai?), but most of the male guests were new to me.

Almost every Asian-presenting man had bare chest under jacket, no shirt. A styling choice that became a visual motif.

Birdsong played as guests took their seats.

The clothes
The first model appeared in what looked like bloomers. The menswear counterpart to Miu Miu’s panties or the ultra-mini from Prada a few seasons back. Flip flops. Primary colours. Suit jackets over athletic gear. Skirts. Cropped moomoos worn like T-shirts. Big backpacks, but no one wore them. Everyone carried their bags by hand.

There was a quiet clarity to it. Not flashy. More like soft rebellion.

On the hats
Cone-like, fringed, sweeping. Half disguise, half sculpture. A centrifuge of hair or wind. Luke Leitch, in Vogue Runway’s coverage, called them “rattan centrifuge hats”. But I think they felt more like a windswept commute. As if each man was late to work, espresso in hand, crossing water. The hat standing in for hair, the bag for purpose.

The sliced loafer
Half loafer, half sandal. Formality undone. It reminded me of the Basics collar loafer silhouette, but this took it further. A juxtaposition of codes that didn’t try to blend. Just sliced through convention, cleanly.

Overall
This wasn’t a statement. It was a shift. A soft redraw. A man split between deadlines and daylight, between officewear and ocean.

The show notes mentioned "non-conformist harmonies," "impulse," and "imaginary places." That tracks.