Even seasoned fashion veterans can still learn something after an eventful fashion-month the S/S 2026 season was. For instance, that Miuccia Prada’s favorite garment is the apron. While this season was heavily focused around the debuts of new creative directions, mostly by male designers, who took a deep dive into their respective brands’ archives – Miuccia Prada, of course, went the complete opposite way: Putting the often unseen work by women center stage. Accordingly, the upcoming Miu Miu spring collection places its main focus on the piece that most would consider rather a tool than clothing. A quick survey among friends and family already reveals the gap that separates Prada from the rest of us: aprons are rarely stored in the wardrobe by those who actually wear them. Just a few straps and a semi-trapezoidal piece of fabric—and yet so much significance. It’s almost deliciously ironic that an entire design team can spend weeks working on such a utilitarian object, only for the final product to be something most apron-wearers could never afford.

In the press release following the show, Ms. Prada cited, among other things, the photographs of the recently deceased Berlin-based photographer Helga Paris as a source of inspiration. She refers to Paris’ understated portraits of East Berlin women from the working class in the former GDR — mostly black-and-white, often in smocks, aprons, or sometimes without any uniform at all. Slowly, it all comes together: aprons, Helga Paris, highlighting women’s (hidden) labor—a perfect bullseye when it comes to Prada’s thematic interests. That Prada has always been at the forefront when it comes to unusual fashion obsessions is nothing new. She has proved time and again that it almost seems as if she doesn’t just sense the zeitgeist early, but that the zeitgeist simply blows in the direction she guides it. Even the very term “Miu Miu-fication”, which is used by some critics to describe current fashion collections’ aspiration of wearability, confirms the fashion power of the Italian ex-communist turned billionaire.

Fittingly, Berlin’s Fotografiska currently hosts a major solo exhibition of the iconic photographer, featuring her 1984 series “Women at the Treff-Modelle Clothing Factory”—a body of work that surely inspired some of Miu Miu’s upcoming aprons. These will be available from spring 2025 in floral prints, brown or black leather, or in a sturdy dark blue canvas, as worn by our best actress Sandra Hüller who opened the show. Talking about actresses – our 50th issue which is going to the printer this week is entitled Wie im Film and features actresses Luna Wedler, Marlene Burow and an homage to the style of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Helga Paris: Für uns runs til January 26th so ample time to visit.