Discover The Exquisite Craftsmanship Behind Prada's Ribbon Dress

The Ribbon Dress is one of the key pieces from its fall/winter 2024 collection.

Published: October 28, 2024

Discover The Exquisite Craftsmanship Of Prada's Ribbon Dress — Photo: Courtesy of Prada

There are few embellishments that convey the innocence of girlhood as conspicuously as a bow. In Prada's case, there were precisely 35. Among the subversively feminine ensembles that graced the luxury label's fall/winter 2024 runway earlier in February, the Ribbon Dress was easily one of the collection's most indelible pieces, with the one in black opening the show.

Titled "Instinctive Romance", Prada's fall/winter 2024 show was an emotional one—with Miuccia Prada
and Raf Simons delving into the romantic notions of beauty and channelling it through poetic dichotomies. For instance, delicate silk is laid against rugged wool and baseball jackets are paired with floral motif patterned skirts. In reflecting this perfect contrast of masculine nonchalance and feminine sweetness, the Ribbon Dress sports an androgynous A-line silhouette that is "girlified" by the abundance of refined bows and rendered in hues of pastel pink and aubergine.

THE PROCESS

This embroidered dress is also a testament to Prada's exceptional craftsmanship—taking a total of 13 hours to craft and requiring 50 metres of ribbon to create the tone-on-tone satin bows. The meticulous construction begins with the cutting of the sablé fabric, followed by the subsequent positioning of the classic chevron pattern. To ensure the embroidery lines up perfectly, the artisan hand cuts the satin ribbons and secures the fabric by hand. The fabric then goes through the first steam pressing and drying stage which gives the garment a worn effect. Next, 35 bows are shaped and ironed individually and then sewn at specific points along the chevron pattern created by the ribbons. The artisan then carefully assembles the embroidered fabric with the contrasting black silk lining and sews additional bows at the hips and neckline of the dress.

The final result is an exquisite dress that uplifts and invites the wearer to embrace their own version of femininity. And in this vein, Prada proves that celebrating girlhood truly never goes out of style.