It’s Cuffing Season Over at Prada’s Fall/Winter 2026 Menswear Show

Aptly titled “Before and Next,” the collection reflects the “archaeologies of thought, of beauty and lives,” as stated in the show notes.

True to the house’s DNA, familiar wardrobe staples are subverted. Most notably, conventional rules of menswear tailoring are disrupted through the inverted cuff—a recurring motif that runs across the majority of the ensembles.

What resonates most, however, lies in the treatment of the garments’ surfaces. Cuffs bear stains, outerwear appears scuffed and creased, leather accessories arrive pre-aged, while footwear shows visible signs of wear. If anything, the lived-in finishes signal a paradigm shift, a departure from all things spotless and pristine.

The styling further reinforces this philosophy of disruption. Knit tanks and button-downs are worn back to front, trouser hems extend low enough to brush the ground, and combat boots are kept partially unlaced.

Are we entering a new era of fashion, where clothes are intentionally unkempt? It appears so, and Prada makes a compelling case for it.

Taken together, the collection delivers a clear proposition: garments are lived objects, shaped by use and experience. The emphasis is a departure from the spick-and-span. Instead, it highlights the current zeitgeist's appreciation for the rugged and imperfect. Clothes, after all, evolve alongside the bodies that inhabit them.

The show’s front row was peppered with the brand’s roster of global ambassadors, all clad in pieces from the brand’s Spring/Summer 2026 line. Asian stars Byeon Woo Seok, aespa’s Karina, Meovv’s Gawon, and Win Metawin sat alongside Hollywood celebrities such as Nicholas Hoult, Troye Sivan, and Louis Partridge.