Slime drips from the ceiling at Prada show celebrating "fluid architecture"
Dutch studio AMO created an aluminium-clad space with slime falling from the ceiling to form liquid walls for fashion house Prada's Spring Summer 2024 menswear show.
Located in the Deposito space at the brand's Rem Koolhaas-designed Fondazione Prada art centre in Milan, AMO clad the walls, floor and suspended ceiling in aluminium to create a cage-like structure for the show.
Within this industrial space, models walked between liquid walls formed by 3,000 kilos of slime that dripped down from the ceiling and formed green puddles on the floor.
A ring of industrial lamps placed around the ceiling lit up the catwalk, adding to its clinical feel.
By creating ever-shifting slime "walls", AMO's design aimed to change the perception of the industrial space, adding an organic aspect that would also affect how the audience saw and interacted with the models.
Both the aluminium structure used for the walls, ceiling and floor and the slime will eventually be sent back to their suppliers to be recycled.
The design of the showspace nodded to that of the collection itself, called Fluid Form, which Prada described as "an examination of fluid architecture, around the human body".
"The concept of fluidity framing the human form again expands, represented through the showspace in the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada," Prada said. "Abstract walls are evoked through fluid interruptions, forming an ever-shifting enfilade through which the models process."
The Fluid Form collection, designed by Prada founder Miuccia Prada and the brand's co-creative director Raf Simons, was designed to have a fluidity that would differ from traditionally rigid tailoring.
"The ultimate aim is a constant awareness of the body within, and its liberation," Prada said.
This fluidity in the design was exemplified by soft, squishy leather bags, looser interpretations of traditionally structured shirts, decorative pockets and applications of corsages and fringes.
"These clothes are ultimately reflective of our natural state – the dynamic movement and constant transformation inherent to humanity," the brand added.
AMO, which is the research and creative studio of Dutch architecture firm OMA, has created numerous show designs for Prada in the Fondazione Prada space.
For the fashion brand's Autumn Winter 2023 menswear show it added a moving ceiling and art deco chandeliers, while last summer's menswear show featured an oversized paper house.
The photography is courtesy of Prada.