Prada and Raf Simons present the Prada Spring/Summer 2025 menswear collection: Closer. The collection centers itself on the truth of proximity, with an added emphasis on the actuality of what is real in the world of the abstract. Here, we are urged to perceive objects, never as they first appear, but up close, leading to the juxtaposition of what lies before us.  

Affection for the closeness we share as individuals defines our ever-shifting perceptions of actuality. Viewed from afar, pieces on the runway pretend to be other. Details may seem misleadingly simplistic, but as they grow nearer they transform. Many pieces on display invite the audience to lean in closer to get a truer view of their structure. Clothes with wired hems and collars allow garments to show signs of life, revealing traces of time in the stitching. Deliberately creased, patented, aged pieces speak to the imperfections of reality.  

The pair speaks of “the human urge for proximity, to share space and commune”. Throughout the show, pieces combine unanticipated contrasts with deliberate showcases of freedom and youthful intent. Exaggerated proportions– either intentionally long or cropped– shift the meaning of appearances. Easter eggs like Bernard Buffet's paintings appear returned to life on printed concert t-shirts. Items from different origins render a fantasy of illusions that animate our ever-transforming perceptions of reality. The collection represents a hunt for the real and necessary reflected in clothes blended with everyday elements and dramatic fine details. 

Within the Desposito of the Fondazione Prada, people are brought together. A hunt for what stands on the totem of essentials is an emblem of jaw-dropping designs. The show considers the elasticity of one’s imagination through pieces that demand a second look, questioning how close we must get before we may settle on the idea of truth and pretense.