The Belgian designer, known for his groundbreaking work at Jil Sander and Christian Dior, brought his distinctive avant-garde sensibility to the Italian luxury house. Partnering with Miuccia Prada in April 24 of 2024, Simons has created collections that blend intellectual depth with wearable appeal. Prada focuses on minimalism, clean lines, and functionality, transforming modern wearable luxury. Here are the essential things to know about Raf Simons’ role at Prada. Chloe Wong reports
1. A historic creative partnership
Raf Simons shares the creative director title with co-creative director Miuccia Prada, an unprecedented arrangement in high fashion. Their collaboration combines Simons’ minimalist precision with Prada’s conceptual approach, resulting in designs that feel both timeless and innovative. This partnership represents a meeting of two of fashion’s most brilliant minds.
2. Streamlined aesthetics
Simons has introduced a cleaner, more restrained vision to Prada while maintaining its intellectual edge. His collections emphasize precise tailoring, muted color palettes, and functional details that elevate everyday clothing. For example, their slim pants, boxy suit jackets, and mid calf skirts in quality fabrics of cashmere, wool, and silk. The look is understated but never boring, proving sophistication lies in subtlety.
3. Raf Simons—his design label
Simons became a self-trained menswear designer in 1995, eventually starting his own RAF SIMINS label, a way to display his individuality and creativity in fashion. Influenced by both rebellious youth culture and traditional menswear, he creates a merging of the two, resulting in his unique image of masculinity. His pieces include interesting silhouettes mixing of unconventional textures, and pops of bright colours against black.
4. His legacy at Christian Dior
Simons replaced John Galliano as the creative director of Dior in April 2023. He played with the famous A line and H line silhouettes that we know Dior for, aiming to bring emotions of “what I felt in the nineties”. Simons replaced the fantasy quality of his predecessors and leaned into androgynous tailoring, sleek silhouettes and modern designs. The Spring/Summer 2013 haute couture collection saw a mix of satin trousers topped with iridescent Liquid Metal-like overlay.
5. A lover of the arts
Other than fashion, Simons possess a passion and love for the arts working as a consultant for the Cigrang Feres art collection in Belgium since 2000. He also collects art, with a private collection including artists like Sterling Ruby, Cindy Sherman, and Evan Holloway, proving his love for contemporary American art. Simons even taught fashion at the University of Applied Arts Vienna for almost 5 years before leaving in June 2005 to focus on his role at Jil Sander.
6. Before fashion
Simons was never traditionally trained in fashion, studying industrial and furniture design instead in Genk, Belgium before beginning as a furniture designer. Simons transitioned into fashion, being inspired by a Martin Margiela all-white show while attending Paris Fashion Week. He had stated that he grew up in Neerpelt, a small Belgium town where there was no cinema, no boutique…he did not know you could even study something like fashion or art. He later went on to take an internship at the studio of Walter Van Beirendonck, a popular Belgium fashion designer, which started his career into fashion.
7. Breaking gender norms
Just like its rebellious sister Miu Miu, Paris breaks the conventionally understood concept of gender within the fashion industry. The brand blurs the line between masculine and feminine, designing pieces that can be worn by either gender. This gender-fluid approach, for example putting men in pleated skirts and women in suit pants, has been appreciated by our current diverse and androgynous audience.
8. Clothing brand collaborations
Simons is known for his numerous diverse collaborations across fashion, art, and design. Most famously, he collaborated with Adidas on a series of sneakers that reflected Simons’ sleek yet eccentric designs. The pair of Ozweego sneakers include a metallic bottom and futuristic silicone bubbles, inspired by military bunny boots. Simons has also collaborated with other well-known labels like Fred Perry for a collection of youth culture inspired pieces.
9. Non-conformist youth culture
Growing up in the New Wave period, Simons was exposed to the contemporary themes of film, music, and art. The diverse scene including artists like Sonic Youth, Black Flag, and Kraftwerk inspired Simons. Finding himself as an outside in school, he would go on to explore non-conformist youth culture at the time which he would include influences of in his fashion, using bold colours and androgynous silhouettes.
10. The Evolution of his work
Simons started out with skinny black suits and shirts resembling school uniforms, with these pieces becoming the basis of his creative directions. In 1995, he was inspired by British post-punk, the youth musical influences seeping into his clothes. These stages in his life and interests he holds come to shape Prada’s aesthetic codes, the traditional sleek tailoring combined with rebellious youth culture.
