Can Miuccia Prada do for the lowly apron what she did for bras?
Miu Miu is still the hottest brand out there, with revenues up 49 percent in the first half of the year, its lock on the number-one spot on Lyst’s ranking intact — and surely the brand that propelled the skimpy-top trend that mushroomed over the spring 2026 season, seen on runways from Armani to Zimmermann.
So Prada did an about-face to focus on workwear, filling her runway with housekeepers, waitresses, welders and all manner of factory laborers.
“Anatomy of the Fall” actress Sandra Hüller opened the display looking like she just stepped away from her chilly station on the assembly line, hands warming in her pockets.
In lieu of sitting, guests leaned on colorful Formica tables, the show venue laid out like a company cafeteria and encircled by PVC strip curtains.
“Recognizing women’s work,” Prada told a huddle of reporters after the show. “And also, the apron is my favorite piece of clothing in general.
“In fashion, we always talk about glamour and rich people, but we have to recognize also that life is very different,” she said. “For me, the apron [encapsulates] the real difficult life of women in history, from factories to home.”
Prada said she studied photos by Dorothea Lange and Helga Paris — respectively American and German photographers who documented work and domestic life — and acknowledged that translating that subject into fashion was more difficult.
“But I use the instrument I have,” she shrugged.
The show opened with sturdy worker jackets, coats and pants in industrial drill, dabbed here and there with leather, cycled through housekeeper aprons in retro florals, and interspersed the double-knit shirts and skirts of diner waitresses.
Gradually, the aprons and smocks became fancier, accruing metal studs, ruffled edges or dazzling crystal embroideries. Some aprons came styled over bikinis; others over navy wool sweaters.
Milla Jovovich’s came in leather with a ruffled bib, and there were evening apron options in black lace, too.
VICs at the show took turns photographing each other in the throwback lady look Prada had created for fall, complete with bullet bras and pencil skirts.
It’ll be interesting to see how many guests, and other designers, might be working workwear come fall 2026.
