In New York, we are quite accustomed to menswear and womenswear looks being presented in the same runway show. Practically speaking, this is because New York, unlike its international fashion counterparts, does not have specific menswear weeks each season (yet. There is talk of this changing as soon as this summer.). Thus, brands, such as Lacoste, Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Duckie Brown and Public School (which both introduced womenswear for this first time this season), and others send male and female models alike down the runway. In London, Milan, and Paris, this is a bit less commonplace, and so, when a design house does so, especially when that house is Prada (known for its groundbreaking choices in casting, among other things), we take notice. Also showing menswear and womenswear together this season: Ann Demeulemeester, a bit of a change for the design house, which normally shows the collections separately, but as of last Fall changes have been abreast at Ann D. Hence, the reason Sébastien Meunier showed the latest lineup for men during the women’s week?
Prada’s Fall/Winter womenswear show was, according to the invitation, “Act 2,” a seeming continuation of the menswear show Miuccia staged in January, which was complete with several womenswear looks, as well. Thus, the womenswear collection flowed nicely from the preceding show, with references stemming from the Weimar period right up through the early 1980’s, and colors mixing in a bit of an off-beat way.
Ann Demeulemeester, a member of the celebrated Antwerp Six, no longer resides at her namesake house, but her design team does, and for Fall, they showed a collection peripherally in-tune with their former leader’s aesthetic; there certainly were some great deviations, I would argue for both the men’s and women’s garments.
But we have all read the reviews by now. What we haven’t seen is a look at the handful of boys (and actually, a man or two) who hit the runway for both Prada and Ann D. So, here they are.