The 2 Most Buzzed About Shows From Day 2 of Milan Fashion Week

Let's get one thing clear: Heritage is the name of the game this season in Milan. So critics were actually pretty excited when MaxMara went back to its house codes (read: Sharp safari-wear for the urban jungle). But, oh, that Miuccia. Girl gets extra credit for making Japonaiserie of all things look, well, the most original it's ever been. Find out what everyone had to say about these two aesthetically different collections.

Author:
Alison S. Cohn
Updated:
Apr 10, 2014
Original:
Sep 21, 2012

Let's get one thing clear: Heritage is the name of the game this season in Milan. So critics were actually pretty excited when

Prada Designer: Miuccia Prada

"A collection which blurred the boundaries between East and West in a modern take on after-hour glamour." {AFP}

"Miuccia Prada, one of the fashion world’s most out-of-the-box thinkers, for next summer takes apart the kimono to discover its most basic silhouette. Then, she puts it all back together again to come up with a full collection of imperial outfits." {The Associated Press}

"There were the enormous block sandals with split-toe socks and the occasional kimono-like finish, but it was never too literal or obvious." {The Cut/
New York Magazine}

"Embracing a philosophy that might best be described as ‘never giving her customers more of what they already love,’ Prada was miserly in her use of color and single-minded in her embellishments." {The Daily Beast/Newsweek}

"It takes a fiendish fashion genius to turn a metallic sock into a feminist cri de coeur, but Miuccia Prada has that kind of mind." {The Daily Telegraph}

"Nothing is straightforward in Miuccia’s world. And isn’t that precisely what keeps us interested? That, and some very, very pretty clothes. " {ELLEuk.com}

"Magically quirky." {FabSugar}

"In a mesmerizing display, Miuccia Prada distilled some truly beautiful clothes and creations from ... far eastern influences--a courtesan in boxing boots marching proudly, though wreathed with an almost palpable sense of dismay." {Fashion Wire Daily}

"It wasn't all cold android emotion and dark sobriety; for a hint of playful innocence, nearly every look came adorned with cartoon-like floral appliqué or prints." {fashionologie}

"There was something rather brooding and rebellious, glamorous but a little sinister." {The Guardian}

"A collection that was typically heedless of general consensus." {The Independent}

"In the most personal and soulful collection she has ever done at Prada, Miuccia Prada opened her womanly heart, using that most female of symbols, the flower, but in a powerful, modern way." {International Herald Tribune}

"In its crush of pink and red satin, in its papery flower appliqués, the spring Prada show on Thursday night seemed literally a Valentine to women. But it was also a dazzling example of how to breathe modernity into cultural references--in this case, traditional Japanese style and architecture." {On The Runway/The New York Times}

"Prada’s spring 2013 collection took Mad Men and amped the fashion quotient so high that no Hollywood stylist will touch it." {Speakeasy/The Wall Street Journal}

"There was poetry to these clothes, but walking the runway in either towering Harajuku girl platforms or leather judo socks bound with patent leather bows--flats in both cases, Prada pointed out--the models exuded power too. Leave it to Miuccia to tweak nostalgia into something that felt modern and new." {Style.com}

"A quiet, thoughtful take on the house codes and the designer’s delightfully wonky vision." {Vogue.com}

"These were Geisha girls who had been exposed to some serious flower power." {Vogue.com UK}

"Ultrachic, intelligent and wearable, too." {WWD}