"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art X

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Neo Rauch Diktat, 2004
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Love is a bourgeois concept and in the end, we like what we see. But we do not fully understand. We are caught in a painting by Neo Rauch. A setting that has no beginning nor ending but an intensely complicated story - with actors pursuing individual objectives mysteriously yet convincingly. We are, in the end, caught in the world of fashion, that we do love... so much.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art IX

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Otto Dix Portrait Of Dr. Heinrich Städelmann, 1922
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

But why is Miuccia Prada referring to conservative codes? To suits, coats, ruffle shirts. Why is her proposal so bourgeois? Why is the movement of 'Neue Sachlichkeit' fashioned into 'Neue Spießigkeit'? Or, in other words: Why are 'we' re-evaluating conservative patterns?
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VIII

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Isa Genzken Mona Isa IV (Dürer Selbsportrait), 2010
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Within this art historical mishmash or 'mix and cash', Prada not only explores the canvas to frame a point of view but also creates installation views that we might associate with Isa Genzken, Anselm Reyle or Wolfgang Tillmans who stage the 'sheet', the paper, the folded fabric, the cutout, the collage as itself. Material as readymade, or, in case of Prada: fashion as post-curational act.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VII

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Chad Wys Nocturne 113, 2011
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Another motif in Prada's latest offering is the idea of 'portraiture'. A classical, artistic modus operandi. By misplacing the collars (seemingly as an act of confusion or childhood-ness) our attention is directed towards the face. Distortion is used as a framing technology/trick. A special effect (similar to Photoshop) that aims to trigger one thing: facial emotion.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art VI

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. Francis Bacon Study (Self-Portrait), 1976
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Prada's Fall/Winter 2013 inhabitants are twisted bodies à la Francis Bacon. Dropped shoulders, twisted collars. Hanging down, letting loose. Layers of fabric, misplaced, distorted luxury. A motif that calls back the tablecloth pattern which interweaves the whole collection. The tablecloth as symbol of the commonplace, the rustic and homey, often accompanied by Dirndl shapes. Why? The ordinary is used as 'distortion' technique within Prada's multi-million luxury context.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art V

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. Mark Rothko Untitled, 1969
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

The style of paintings and digital works that build the layers of Prada's new 'salary men' have a tendency for - and present the cohesive idea - of 'abstract gesture'. Some references are literal (pattern), others are analytical (layers) or conceptual (collars) - but overall they function as exercises in turning flat reduction into 3D reality.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art IV

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)


1. John Baldessari Valise/Serpent/Fist, 2009
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

And with each exit, each look that was proposed upon the sensitive psyche of her mindful audience, Miuccia Prada, together with her team, made art history. Each outfit resembled a room in a well-curated exhibition. While the artworks slowly evolved from Minimalism to Pop Art to New Realism.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art III

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Sascha Braunig Nets, 2012
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Her fashion was not 'mainstream' nor 'everyday'. It was the dishevelled proposal for a genius. The kind of artist who does not have to search for ideas, tactics or strategies. Miuccia Prada is talking to the ones who do what they have to do. Those with a different vision. A different sight. Another world view.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art II

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Anders Widoff U.T (Grammatik): 14, 1994-95
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

The clothes Miuccia Prada presented were nothing but not easy to understand. They were referring to multiple schools of modern art, multiple directions. Her sophisticated school boys, nerds and professors were symbols of an intellectual/artistic elite. And her fashion was tailored for the likes of David Salle, Michael Krebber and Anders Widoff.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. David Salle Poets in Their Youth, 2009
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Miuccia Prada's Fall/Winter 2013 collection for men and women was an exercise in the 'ordinary', the 'simple' and everyday 'wearable'. Clothes for 'normal' people who go to work. That is what we read and hear in interviews, what we are meant to believe. But we will soon know: it is more complicated than that.
/HORST