20 Years Later, Best Believe Prada Is Still Bejeweled
This Miuccia-ism from Spring 2004 looks better than ever on the Prada Spring 2026 runway.
"Happy Prada Day!"
This is how editors, influencers, and general fashion enthusiasts—both on the ground at Milan Fashion Week and not—greet each other when Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons are on the calendar. Many a global trend has originated on their Prada runways. (Recent examples include Fall 2024's hats-as-hair and Spring 2025's sporty-chic windbreakers.) However, these shows are about more than a summit for setting a worldwide style agenda: They're masterclasses in digging back into an archive, being unafraid to self-reference, to create something both new and wearable. A lesson in fashion history that doubles as a styling playbook.
For Spring 2026, an early-aughts Prada-ism—and a staple of the '00s—bubbles back up to make a big statement.
From afar, some Prada dresses looked like they were layered over a T-shirt. Up close, that white collar was coated in teeny-tiny beads.
Other colorblocked moments brought back the square necklines and intricate rhinestone detailing of early 2000s Prada.
Nine looks in Prada's Spring 2026 "Body of Composition" collection include a callback I only caught on 6x zoom. The necklines on a range of smock-like dresses in tones of cotton candy pink, pistachio green, and Big Bird Yellow boast rows and rows of contrasting beads. An elegantly entry-level version zhuzhes up a white collar with silver beads, lined with dangling white baubles. A more advanced iteration frames a square-neck black and gray top with braided rhinestones and topaz-reminiscent appliqués.
The embellished collar is a look that hasn't been seen en masse since the late 2010s (i.e. peak statement necklace). Yet each time it hit the 2025 runway, it sent a sea of phones rising into the air to capture how the beads refracted the light, eye-catching even from the back row. And they had a lasting impact: When I hopped in my taxi to the next show with fellow editors, these collars were at the top of everyone's wish lists.
More approachable takes brightened up satin, double-pocket cargo dresses under oversize leather jackets...
...while bolder dresses could try a high-juxtaposition version with equally eye-catching opera gloves.
As with most worldwide sartorial phenomenons, Prada did it first. This resurgent trend-in-waiting originated in the brand's Fall 2004 collection. Back then, models walked down the runway in the neckline-necklace hybrid over sleeveless, pixelated floral dresses and neutral satin coats. The look went on to infiltrate Prada's sister brand, Miu Miu, and radiate to fellow designers on the Fashion Month circuit. Eventually, it trickled down to the hangers of suburban American malls—and, most likely, your closet.
Prada's beaded necklines were introduced on the house's Fall 2004 runway.
Bejeweled necklines seem like a fashion two-for: Skip your jewelry with this top instead! But they gesture at a fundamental part of Prada's DNA: This is a brand that knows how to put a freaky twist on a somewhat quotidian garment, making an everyday piece feel exponentially more interesting. Hardly anyone can object to a black satin T-shirt dress—the beaded neckline pulls focus without taking up fabric real estate (or requiring more effort from the person wearing it).
Mrs. Prada proved this notion herself during her final bow, walking by Simons' side in a white button-up shirt dress. She'd tied a tangerine orange scarf that perfectly matched the floor, lined with orange and purple rhinestones glistening under the light, just below her shoulders. By the time she'd made the rounds with journalists and fans backstage, her styling had taken on a life of its own online.
When Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons took their joint bow, the former wore a rhinestoned orange shawl around her shoulders.
It's a rule in fashion that it takes at least three to make a trend. After Prada's Spring 2026 show, I caught the adage taking a new form, when one guest whispered three words to another as the last beaded collar outfit stalked by: "I need that." Prada history can't help repeating.
