Milan designers are challenging the notion that a collection should dictate how one dresses, offering instead individual looks that can elevate, transform or simply complement a wardrobe.

Max Mara’s Yorkshire-born creative director Ian Griffiths told journalists backstage that customers aren’t looking for clothes that make them look like experiments. Judging by their new collection, Miuccia Prada and her co-designer, Raf Simons, aren’t listening to Griffiths’ advice.

Italian fashion house Prada played with distortion for its womenswear Spring-Summer 2025 collection at Milan Fashion Week on Thursday, presenting skirts suspended from belts, glasses with hugely oversized lenses and topless hats.