By now you will have seen them; you may have even coveted saliva on them. Thighs! There was this photo of Milo Ventimiglia leaving the gym in shorts so short you could barely see them, which apparently ignited the fuse of the internet’s desire for bare-thighed guys. Just search for #crotch and # 5inseam on TikTok, where women claim to never date Prince Charming if his shorts are over five and a half inches. It’s official: Thigh-Guy Summer is upon us. And it’s not just frayed denim shorts (a la Harry Styles) and tiny marathon gym shorts (a la Paul Mescal). Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons just walked the runway, offering ultra-luxurious, ultra-cropped shorts in Prada’s signature retro-wallpaper prints. If yesterday’s Fendi menswear show was all about bare belly, all ripped abs and abbreviated seaming, today’s Prada show captured our craze for the deliciously fuzzy and indecent bare thigh.
Why do you ask? Well, maybe that’s because last year more or less cut our lower halves on endless Zoom calls. The legs, and even the clothes one wears from the waist up, are suddenly rarefied, exotic and therefore highly erotic. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons titled their men’s show “Urgency of Feelingsâ€. And nothing could seem more urgent right now than, ahem, the feeling of sex, as “hot vax summer” begins and Durex sales have increased in the first quarter of 2021. However, sex – or even “sexyâ€, and certainly not “sexual†– are not words commonly associated with Prada. For decades, it has been the meeting place of a more intellectual sensuality, a bookish gaze more subversively bourgeois and cerebral of Art than carnal and fleshy.
Now the Prada look is about short shorts with rolled up hems, worn with loose tank tops, oversized blazers and cashmere jumpers with flashing shoulders, and bucket hats. Shot in two parts, at the red-walled Deposito of the Fondazione Prada in Milan and on the mountainous beaches of Sardinia, there was sometimes a durable leather jacket or coat for that contrast in texture, interior-exterior, urban-natural. .
The silky playsuits with drawstring waistlines were just short, simple, and summery. As for the shorts themselves, they were almost like short skirt hybrids. Were they boxers? Swimsuit (the boys dove into the Mediterranean in the accompanying film)? Were they sportswear? None of the above. They are typically Prada, and by that we mean a questionable item that turns into a fabulously desirable fashion. Expect calf toning bar classes to be booked this summer and bottles of tanning oil will run out by August.
“We come from previous collections which were all focused on technicality, machines, which reflected the need for technology,†said Miuccia. “Now we think the opposite. Human, real. Our interest in technology has come from its place as a communication tool for humanity. But this expression is much more direct. In other words, don’t overthink it (ironic for a fashion writer, we know). “The idea that living your life can be a euphoric experience,†continued Miuccia. “A lot of joy can come from something so simple: when times are tough, we look for joys that are simple and straightforward. Innocence. “
Innocence? If the internet has shown anything in the past couple of months, everyone thinks short shorts are sexually charged. “Exposing yourself to nature, going to the beach, that’s freedom. It’s utopian, â€added Miuccia. “It really is a primary need – an intellectual need too. Mrs. P understands. She really does.
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