Scientific styles at Prada, Max Mara, Del Core

Science and fashion are not natural allies. The rigor of the former often clashes with the fantasy of the latter, but somehow they have ignited each other over the past 24 hours in three remarkable Milan collections from Prada, Max Mara and Del Core.

Prada: an alternative to the algorithm

Questioning how our world will change due to AI and algorithms was a key element of Prada’s latest show, and judging by the surprisingly heterogeneous collection, its effect will be multiple and diverse.

It was hard to pinpoint a defining style in this collection, except perhaps that many looks referenced Prada classics – such as the crisp suede jackets, golf hats and logo-embellished heels. But the catwalk was packed with clothes that were sure to win with attitude, and sure to find fans around the world.

Even the ensemble recalled the glory days of the '90s, when Miuccia Prada first stunned the world, most notably with the reappearance of the house's once-ubiquitous pastel green.

“Basically, today there is an incredible amount of information collected about all of us. Everything you like is recorded by an algorithm. This is our proposal for an alternative,” explained Miuccia Prada, still Italy’s most influential designer, three decades after her first shows.

“What we wanted was a show where each individual was unique,” ​​added his design partner, Raf Simons.

The result was dozens of very, very different looks, albeit underpinned by a surprising whiff of fetishism and an idea of ​​industrial recycling, with worn-out cowboy boots and worn-out sweaters. Multiple looks were completed with S/M rings, chains and kiss rings sewn into battered rawhide dresses, belts or demure skirts. Often in outfits paired with a single conical bra. While hyper-perforation was used to cut three-inch holes into golf caps, raffia hats and metallic skirts.

The real standout though was the trompe l'oeil belted trousers, which followed the June menswear collection. Some smart three-quarter length coats and a shiny black dress with rooster feathers, paired with an orange windbreaker, that was sure to crush any algorithm.

A well-produced show, organised with great agility and a commercial and fashion success. And a good way for the brand to recover, a day after the mainsail track on its Luna Rossa broke, forcing the yacht to abandon Wednesday's America's Cup race in Barcelona.

Max Mara: Math Mode

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Ian Griffith's starting point this season was Hypatia, the first female scientist for whom there is documentary evidence of her work, whose studies in astronomy and mathematics suggested some of the forms of this collection.

Although he considered the universe to be geocentric (something Galileo denied twelve centuries later), his comments on conic forms and, therefore, the triangle, found an echo in the darts of many glances.

Done in a single colour in a deep palette of coffee, caramel, ecru and ivory, this was a very focused collection. Led by fitted boleros and pocketless Eisenhowers; ribbed knit one-shoulder dresses; or long-cut blazers with large flap pockets. Like Hypatia, the cast was made up of serious ladies, wearing skirts that reached to their ankles.

Everyone remembering the “trigonometry” their mother used when making clothes at home when Ian was a child.

“I seem to have gained this reputation for being a bit of an intellectual as a designer, but it’s all because I saw chemistry classes on TV, which got me thinking: what is it about science that people in the creative world are so prejudiced against? Which led me to the idea that science imposes order on chaos, like fashion. That led me to my muse, Hypatia, who I knew from Rachel Weisz’s 2009 film Agora, and who I also knew from TV,” Griffiths reflected after the show.

And even though this was a spring/summer collection, the standout was some fantastic long coats in petrol blue. A reminder that when it comes to coats, Max Mara remains the holy grail.

That said, like the soundtrack (Alex Banks' Uber Dem Vulcan Wolken), the clothes became a little repetitive, even safe. Maybe there's a reason science and fashion are historically distant. One is serious and the other is much more fun.

But the collection will surely have a happier fate than that of Hypatia, who was stoned to death with tiles by an angry mob in Alexandria in AD 415.

“Which often happened in those days with any woman who broke the chain,” Ian noted, after creating a collection that would surely have pleased Hypatia and a few scientists.

Del Core: Elegant Lab Girl

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Karl Lagerfeld used to say that we all buy, but designers less than others. A good example is Alessandro Del Core, the least original designer in Milan these days.

Del Core titled this collection A Day At The Lab and there was something of a mad scientist in the air, but always with a subtle vision. Until its memorable finale, where Naomi Campbell strolled through the inner courtyard of an Art Liberty building in a beautifully structured white dress.

Experimenting with the opening looks, semi-transparent nylon chiffon trench coat, shorts or masculine shirts; a divine spy coat in precision-pressed white leather or a series of almost translucent avant-garde futuristic dresses with perfect mid-thigh ruffles. Many of her actors carried books, fashion professors reading The Human Comedy or Pride and Prejudice. Holding them in their hands with long latex gloves.

Few designers in Italy manage with such deft flair as Del Core, whose daring semi-sheer pleated dresses were all stunning. One could also not fail to notice that, despite being a fledgling house, Del Core was attended by every knowledgeable critic in town. Technically, this collection was ready-to-wear, but its fit was so fine and its finish so assured that it could have been shown during Paris Haute Couture. The ultimate compliment that can be paid to Del Core is that he is a superb designer who blazes his own trail with great refinement.