Steven Meisel for Prada Spring/Summer

Where/what are the models looking at, photographed by Steven Meisel for Prada’s spring/summer campaign? We observe them and their gaze captivates us. The ingredients. Dresses, coats, accessories brought to life by giant graffiti prints of female faces. The space on Via Fogazzaro in Milan, the location of the show, has also been transformed: “In the Heart of The Multitude,” this is the motto/message, illustrators and graffiti artists give soul to women and their contemporaneity, to their power and multiplicity. And then: identical hairstyles for all, knee-high sport socks studded with crystals, ultra-feminine bags embellished with glossy crocodile, studs, and saffiano. Furthermore, gym-inspired bands become details along the necklines and the bust. It’s the look of women’s sports teams, but with deluxe textures, colors, and shapes. The finishing touch is the youthfulness of the models, in perfect harmony with the sports team look and the aggressive optimism in their gaze: independence as an existential value. Their names: Julia Bergshoeff, Dorota Kullova, Ashleigh Good, Gracie Van Gastel, Amanda Murphy, Viktor Van Pelt, Maggie Jablonski, Lieke Van Houten, Maja Salamon, Ola Rudnicka, Sabrina Ioffreda, Magdalena Jasek, Nastya Sten, Cindy Bruna, Anna Ewers, Ophelie Guillermand, Malaike Firth, and Lexi Bolling. Campaign video can be found on prada.com