From Marie Antoinette’s corsets—symbols of the aristocratic detachment of the 18th-century French court—to the rugged jeans that embodied youth rebellion in the 1950s, fashion has always served as a faithful mirror to the social and political currents brewing beneath the surface.
On Sunday, the fashion house Prada unveiled its Spring-Summer 2026 menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week. The presentation, which coincided with a U.S. airstrike on Iranian nuclear facilities, felt strikingly current—less a vision of next summer and more a reflection of the present. Purple magazine’s fashion critic captured the tone with a succinct headline: “We no longer dress to be seen—we dress to survive our times.”
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Prada unveiles its Spring-Summer 2026 menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week
(Photo: Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images)
Designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the creative directors of the brand, delivered one of Prada’s most militarized collections to date—seemingly a response to the rising tensions in Europe and the Middle East in recent years.
In a press release, Prada said that “We wanted a change of tone—the opposite of the aggression, power and nastiness that runs the world now.” Simons added that their goal was to present ”something that is calming, positive and balanced.”
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Olive wool sweater with epaulettes and frayed fringes
(Photo: Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images)
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A military-inspired color palette, softened in tone
(Photo: Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images)
But there’s an evident paradox: while the designers speak of positivity and balance, the collection draws heavily on military codes that evoke existential anxiety. This contrast reveals the underlying tension at the heart of the collection—the desire to soothe versus the need to confront a threatening reality. The color palette, while rooted in military aesthetics, eschews olive and black in favor of softened tones like smoky pistachio and clouded blue.
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The military references are unmistakable—especially to an Israeli viewer. Some pieces appear straight out of an IDF supply depot: an olive wool sweater with shoulder epaulettes and frayed fringes, a knee-length olive military shirt and short trousers in olive and navy blue that nod to sirwals, once worn by Palmach fighters in the 1940s. These were woven into a collection that, for all its references, projected a relaxed and accessible sensibility.
Accessories with clear military origins—gray toiletry bags and backpacks with multiple compartments—appeared on a runway lined with floral carpets, offset by raffia cloche hats and pastel tones that hinted at escapism. The show’s set design underscored the fine line between political statement and retreat from reality, as models walked to an abstract soundtrack that opened with birdsong and ended with Elvis Presley’s 1969 protest song In the Ghetto.
The militaristic elements in Prada’s collection convey a vulnerable masculinity—one that is acutely aware of the dangers outside but refuses to relinquish beauty, softness or restraint. This is a man not seeking to fight, but simply to endure. Or, as French fashion critic mavERIC put it: “It seems Prada has understood what the world refuses to admit: all that’s left is to dance in the ruins—but in clothes stitched like haiku.”