Prada toes line between useful and zany at Milan fashion week

Fashion label took things you might already own – a white vest, a backpack – and turned them into must-have pieces

No one comes to Milan fashion week for its “useful clothes”. Yet this was the verdict of director Luca Guadagnino, who sat in the front row on Sunday: “Useful, yes, wearable, yes, all those things. Everyone can wear this.”

Price-tags aside, his point was this: just as in previous collections, Prada took things you might already own – a ribbed white vest, a backpack – and turned them into must-have pieces. They did the same with Duffle coats, donkey jackets, black office brogues and navy parkas. Sometimes fashion holds up a mirror to what’s happening in the world, but sometimes it reminds us of what we already own.