Prada Steampunk for Men

I follow cyberpunk, cool-hunting author William Gibson on Twitter. The other day, he tweeted, “It would be so cool if the 1% dressed exclusively in steampunk Prada. Even just for a week.” I retweeted his post and asked, “Who do I know who’d rock this too?” I’m pretty sure I know a lot of people who would be very happy to wear high end couture Prada steampunk, so it wouldn’t be effective as a way to spot 1%-ers. Mind you, surveys have shown that 12% of Americans believe they are members of the 1%. As was pointed out on yesterday’s solid pilot for HBO’s new Aaron Sorkin show Newsroom, America does not lead the world in education.

Okay, I’m really burying the lead here. The key point is that Prada steampunk clothing for men is not something from the imagination of William Gibson. Actually, it may be exactly something from the imagination of William Gibson, but it is something which has manifested as real in the actual physical world. Given that Prada got a lot of coverage a while back when Arena Homme put together a Final Fantasy characters in Prada photo shoot, maybe Prada decided to get a science fiction fan on staff full time.

The current women’s line for Prada doesn’t match the menswear at all, being mostly seventies-esque hideousness with chunky black and white prints and weird flowing pleated 70’s pastels. I have like one friend who could rock that stuff and make it look good. Based on their ad campaign, Prada has none. I know that Prada doesn’t have sleek and black as their thing every season, but, as an Angeleno and avid William Gibson reader, I always think all their gear should be sleek and black.

But the steampunk men’s clothing is kinda great. They got Willem Dafoe, Gary Oldman, Jamie Bell, and Garrett Hedlund to model the Fall 2012 collection. So the photo shoot by David Sims has resonances of The Fifth Element, Shadow of the Vampire, Tron, King Kong, Jumper, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Spider-Man, The Book of Eli, and all that sort of thang. I like the behind-the-scenes video of the Prada shoot too. Edit for Tapeheads fans like myself: I really love the production values.

Prada Menswear
Fall/Winter 2012 Campaign

Four of Hollywood’s leading men in a contemporary character study, Gary Oldman, Garrett Hedlund, Jamie Bell and Willem Dafoe, also stars of the autumn/winter fashion showcase in Milan, are the distinct subjects of this extraordinary gallery – transposing cinematic codes to the world of menswear in the series of three-quarter length portraits.

The campaign – shot by David Sims –layers different codes of dress in a subtle parody of power and role-play. Exaggerated poses and conspiratorial glances hint at the game, a palm solemnly placed on the heart or into a pocket with precise formality.

Published on Jun 22, 2012 by PRADA

Stylish men off screen as well as on, they are some of the most iconic screen characters of our time, as well as influential icons of fashion. Together the four actors, Gary Oldman, Garrett Hedlund, Jamie Bell and Willem Dafoe, each at a different point in their careers, represent a cross-generational broadening of the face of Prada Menswear.
Category:

Film & Animation
Tags: Prada Fall Winter Autunno Inverno Gary Oldman Garrett Hedlund Jamie Bell Willem Dafoe David Sims 2012 Advertising Campaign Making of Behind the scene

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Posted by Amelia G on June 25, 2012. Filed under Headline, Trappings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry