off balance

"I didn't want to do anything about the city...more something about sport and the outdoors in general—freedom and nature. But in the end, I realized I liked coats and suits. It was serious, in a way. It was about a need for feminine empowerment." - Miuccia Prada, on style.com



I love Miuccia Prada's brand of ladylike, and how she finds different ways of running this theme and refining it over time. Prada is always about playing with classic feminine staples (I didn't care for the waders or felt knickers, trying too hard), staying within certain boundaries, but everything is always off-kilter. It's like watching a stop-motion film where everything is recognisable but the rhythm is always just impossible to catch.

And when you pause and look closely, it's incredibly beautiful, somehow lush and austere at the same time -



The shoes would have to be fantastical to counter all that severity -



They look like little sea fans. Like living things, anyhow.

I just love how Prada provokes a reaction, in the way people look forward to her collection and discussing it and thinking about it. Talk about a power in fashion.

Images from style.com