A SPARK of STYLE

The SPRING COLLECTIONS are an EXHORTATION to GET DRESSED for YOURSELF

WE LIVE IN a world of excess. There is so much stuff: material stuff, social media stuff, existential stuff. That applies to fashion, of course, too, where every scroll yields a new microtrend or an influencer declaring the death of one.

Figuring out how you want to dress can feel overwhelming. Shopping takes on the qualities of checking off a list rather than investing in pieces that make us feel good. The internet would tell us that we're either a Carolyn Bessette or a Kim Kardashian, that we're early-'90s grunge or early-aughts sexed-up glam, leaving the idea of personal style in a murky place filled mostly by the algorithm. In other words, making sense of fashion and actually finding ourselves in it has become a confusing proposition.

Leave it to Mrs. Prada, then, to bring some sorely needed clarity. "Let's talk about the clothes," she said backstage before Prada's show for Spring 2024, codesigned with Raf Simons, which explored the essence of craft over the execution of ideas. The collections as a whole were filled with extremely wearable pieces, the kind you could imagine mixing and mashing within your own wardrobe, like perfectly fitting jeans or trousers paired with shirts or dresses with slightly tweaked tailoring and details, such as an oblong collar or an extra set of sleeves. There was a renewed focus on the purity of the garments-and, with it, some much-needed optimism in these increasingly complex and confusing times.