Distinctively Prada:FW/0809 Womenswear Collection

“You’ve got to go all the way,” Miuccia Prada told Cathy Horyn of the New York Times, speaking of the flagrant use of lace in the new Fall/Winter 0809 Prada collection. The bold and daring Prada did just that, went all the way, with a fabric she, get this! —“hate[s]” (according to Lisa Armstrong at The Times.) The models emerged head to toe (dress, coat, shirt, bodysuit…) in lace.. distinctively sexy and still intelligent and sophisticated — still the distinguishable Prada woman.

The music (dark, menacing and glorious, like the theme song to some notorious, victorious film femme fatale) set the tone for the collection. The first group: black dresses with sashays of ruffles near and around the shoulders, down the sides symmetrically. The ruffles also found themselves trimmed on the bags and even elaborately detailing the shoes; they looked like wings, fins — the girls floated, glided.

Then out cam Lara stone in a black lace halter-top like piece (similar to the halters in the men’s collection) over a fitted light-blue collared shirt layered over a nude collared turtleneck for that two-collar effect. Together with a see-through lace skirt exposing the hem of the shirt as a sort of seen-through-to mini — Stone was a stunner. Following were more lace ensembles flashing skin, underpants, nude skintight dresses and turtlenecks. Sarah Mower of style.com claims Miuccia Prada is about to do for the lace what Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga did for flower printers the previous season; I’d dare anyone to disagree.

The show closed with long-sleeve see through dresses with ruffled bangles shoes, necklaces — you name it, she went all the way… remember. It was “ultra-modernity” Marigay McKee, fashion and beauty director at Harrods, told style.com just moments after the catwalk. I could say there was a hint of retro, hint of the future but no combinations of descriptions can really hit it dead on — it was just Prada… as always. Thanks be to that.