The Prada Spring/Summer 2025 menswear collection begs you to look closer—as reflected in its very name, “Closer.”

At first, the menswear collection looks like any other: workwear with Prada’s laid back essence. Once you look closer, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons engage their audience in a shared joke of perception versus reality.

In one look, a clearly worn cropped leather hoodie peaks out from a leather coat—only to discover that the leather is intentionally aged by Prada, subtly nodding to the quip with clown-like shoes.

In another ensemble, a suit drapes short on the legs and oversized on top forgoing a shirt underneath. One may claim bad design, yet closer inspection reveals deliberate creasing added by Prada for a worn-in perception.

Many of the looks follow suit, with intentional creasing, aged, patinated, garments bearing traces of wear. Exaggerated proportions, deliberately long or cropped, are combined.

While the garments echo workwear, some bordering on hands-on trades, the reality is their luxury price tags, hardly meant for practical labor outside an office setting. Zippers, typically functional, are whimsically placed without practical purpose in this collection.

Bernard Buffet paintings are turned into concert t-shirts by screen printing, executed with deliberate spontaneity. Along the lines of printing, faux printed belts are displayed across pants playfully disrupting conventional fashion norms. Wired details animate collars and hems with an unreal dynamism, lending a lifelike quality to the garments themselves.

It’s the sheer audacity and playful absurdity of these designs that render them a compelling narrative and functional in their own distinct way.