Skirts take star billing as Prada eschews trousers and dresses in Milan

Combination of Miuccia Prada with Belgian designer Raf Simons once again spins gold for fashion house

Miuccia Prada’s style formula is simple: begin with a great skirt. Her personal uniform is a knee-length skirt, A-line or pleated, most often with a plain sweater and kitten heels. The Prada collection that opened Milan fashion week made a compelling case for her favourite outfit, with a skirt the star of every one of the 63 looks – no dresses, no trousers. It won the room over, so expect to see the personality skirt on a high street near you soon.

For the past six years, Miuccia Prada has shared design duties with Belgian designer Raf Simons, 20 years her junior. The arrangement was considered unusual when announced, but the house of Prada has always had a way of spinning gold from quirky ideas, and it has worked. “She had the idea to focus on skirts this time,” Simons explained before this show. “And I said, why not make it an all-skirt show?”