Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons serve low-key surprise at Prada spring-summer 2023

The latest collection by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons explores the space between minimalism and decorations, with clean silhouettes and transparent materials.

The collection starts with form-fitting, slightly cropped bodysuits crafted from poplin shirting, in industrial colours like grey and ivory. They are worn under boxy jackets and longer opera coats, then finally, a loose-fitting dress in crude silk and pretty lace detailing, suggestive of a night dress.

'The clothes are about simplicity, with no unnecessary complication,'' Prada said in show notes. ''Politically, theoretically, aesthetically, we are drawn to these notions again and again. The idea of directness.''

The silhouette was simple. Dresses wrap around the body, as casually as a towel after a shower. Transparent, tissue-y overcoats gave a sense of lightness. Naive applique flowers decorate handbags and jackets, at times holding in place a trailing tail of fabric.

Even with the feminine touches, androgyny underlined the collection, in particularly in the Prada uniform looks: Jumpsuits, slim trousers and jackets. Shoes were snub-toed Mary Janes or loafers. Bags of the season included the Prada inverted triangle handbag and large shoppers in contrasting pink or lime.

''More than any other collection, this one is filled with different views. There's a mirror of cinema in the collection, of witnessing fragments of a larger whole,'' Simons said.