The office has become our natural habitat. Here, we travel, day in and day out, for hours and hours, sitting, learning, talking, reading and thinking. We are in the office so much that our idea of nature has dwindled more and more. Our time outdoors is slim and rare, restrained to dusk and dawn, dark and cold. How do we bridge this gap and find more time to spend in nature? Is it by creating outdoor offices? Or indoor sanctuaries? Prada’s Men's Fall/Winter 2024 suggests it’s both. At the Prada Fondazione, models walked over a terrarium-like installation; pebbles, moss, autumnal leaves, and water streamed beneath. Contrasting these natural elements were functional furnishings. Guests were seated on wheely black office chairs and surrounded by bright desktop computers, screened with a white and black PRADA background.

Despite the supporting ideas of nature, weather and the outdoors, the clothes were tailored, stylish and rather posh, alluding to our indoor sensibility. These men didn’t seem like they were going to be traversing the windy, wild outdoors any time soon. Rather, they were here to work. And work they did!

Garbed in butter yellow shirts with white cuffs and collars; straight-leg low-waisted trousers, accessorised with a side-clasped leather belt; cool grey and navy-blue two-piece suits; textured turtlenecks; cashmere cardigans; aviator and bomber jackets, these men were prepared for the ventures of their daily lives: the work days, home days, kids days, meeting days, sporting days, painting days, life days. Somewhat wittily, some of the traditional workwear garments were paired with swim-style caps, fisherman sandals and felted peaked caps. They seemed willing to do anything. 

Adventurous men they were, eager to dress daringly. The colours in the collection were vivid yet supple. Baby pink knitted jumpers and outerwear retrieved the warmer hues in the grey suiting, while moss green shades elevated the cooler ones. There were also notes of purple, sky blue, orange and red, bringing a playful light to the collection.

According to the subsequent Press Release, the collection spoke to a ‘deep and essential human need to connect with the world around us. The seasonal rhythms of nature, the natural order... these clothes... reflect and react to their surroundings, to these disparate and distinct environments, interior and exterior.’

Vague, yes, but still considerate and intriguing. For the Prada Men’s Fall 2024 collection did indeed respond to our need to live in multiple environments, jump from multiple time zones and be multiple versions of ourselves. Like the natural cycle, we humans evolve and grow. We find better, more productive ways to live in the natural world.