Why We Still Can’t Get Enough of Old Prada

Mirror, mirror on the bag, what’s the biggest trend of all? Old Prada. Suddenly, it seems like every fashion fanatic, stylist, and sartorial Substacker can’t get enough, whether it’s the 1999 mirror bags, quirky geometric-printed skirts, or covetable sets. Luckily, Miuccia Prada has always been self-referential, and recent seasons have yielded a bounty of runway looks that take inspiration from past styles. However, on red carpets, archival Prada is having a moment, too.

Fashion hit peak archive a few years ago, and it’s no wonder: Impossible-to-find, rare vintage is ultimately now the biggest status symbol. But archival Prada? There’s something oddly specific about it that’s bringing forward a tight-knit community of fans and celebrities. “It has a little extra cachet because it’s been picked out from all of fashion history,” says Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Steele adds, on the recent uptick in celebrity styling, “It signifies a kind of very sophisticated fashion sensibility. It shows your taste. It shows how plugged in you are that they’ll give you that from the archive for that event. It is definitely a statement.”

Uma Thurman in a silky dress inspired by the spring 1997 collection.

Rita Ora in a vintage dress from the spring 2009 collection.

Take, for instance, Uma Thurman’s recent silky tailored look inspired by the Prada spring 1997 collection, which she sported to the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s The Old Guard 2. Rita Ora recently wore the crinkled Prada spring 2009 bustier dress in Saint-Tropez, and Hunter Schafer donned a custom version of the golden look from the same collection on the red carpet. Chase Sui Wonders even wore a burgundy berry-hued Prada spring 1997 dress—pulled directly from the archives—for a special screening of her series The Studio.

Julie Sandler, a collector, first started buying Prada in the early 2000s. But recently, she’s been trying to hunt down the now-vintage pieces that she originally missed out on. “When I first started noticing Prada in the 1990s, I was drawn to the jolie-laide aesthetic and androgyny,” she says. “A little bit punk rock. There were a few celebrated female designers, which was appealing for a young professional looking to break into a boys’ club, and Mrs. Prada was at the top in my eyes.”

Hunter Shafer at the world premiere for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in custom Prada, inspired by the spring 2009 runway collection.

Rita Ora wore this dress from the spring 2009 runway collection.

In fashion, where male creative directors tend to dominate, archival Prada feels like the ultimate statement in dressing for the female gaze. The very early collections hold an inescapable appeal that cuts through the sea of beige and conformity. That feeling has only multiplied since Raf Simons joined the house as co-creative director. Some fans agree: “I am drawn to whimsy, humor, and clothes that make me think,” Sandler adds.

For a particular generation of fans, iconic collections like the fairy-themed spring 2008 runway are forever cemented in the canon of fashion history. They elicit an almost visceral effect among admirers. Many millennials and Gen Z fashion devotees grew up seeing the collection in print magazines and lusting after the dreamlike, colorful imagery that looked like nothing else at the time. Shoppers also had strong feelings when it came out. It’s a personal favorite of both Steele and Sandler, the latter of whom had her husband diligently track down the pajama set in the days before sophisticated computerized inventory was the norm. “I think it was just so fanciful,” Steele says, adding, “You expect that people will reference queens and goddesses, but fairies? It’s such an interesting feminine archetype.”

One of the many mirrored looks from the spring 1999 runway collection.

From the fairy-filled spring 2008 runway collection.

Likewise, some archival Prada fans are collecting pieces now to reclaim a part of fashion history through a different lens. Tanya Ravichandran, a content creator and collector who has an affinity for pre-1999 Prada and began collecting six years ago, often shares her recent acquisitions on social media, like her rare mirrored pieces from Prada spring 1999. “I love to collect pieces that are not inherently South Asian, but you can tell they were inspired by South Asian craft. I feel like it’s a way for me to reclaim the identity,” says Ravichandran, noting the common mirror motif found in Northern Indian clothing. “I’ve talked about this in the past, but you don’t really see people like me in this fashion world, but you see so much of our tradition and culture reflected in the artistry of modern designers. So I feel like the best way for me to really reclaim that is to purchase pieces that represent me, even though they weren’t trying to.”

Most important of all in the world of archival fashion: Old Prada is that friendly, familiar face for major fashion freaks, but it’s also weird and different enough to make a statement without ostracizing the wearer from regular fashion or red-carpet culture. “Very few people are actually real neophiliacs,” Steele says. “We have seen it before. We liked it. We like it again because we are reassured that it’s now become part of fashion history. It’s been authenticated. It’s like, it’s really good, so it’s not scary, but it’s not what we’re seeing every day, and so it has that special quality too. You’re plucking it out of all the years of fashion history.”

Wearing Prada has become an intellectual flex in the fashion community, and it’s never looked better.