From denim to nylon, from Prince of Wales check to thermosealed materials. Sheer like chiffon, or opaque in saturated hues ranging from yellow to pink, through shades of green, blue, including balck and white.

During the latest Milan Men’s Fashion shows—an edition with fewer shows per day than ever before—a clear theme emerged from Prada’s S/S 2027 runway show. The watchword: a return to the essentials, showcasing a distillation of the universal wardrobe to arrive at a selection of just a few indispensable pieces.

“There are fifty pairs of jeans,” Miuccia Prada told reporters during the press conference following her latest men’s fashion show, as reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “And I hate jeans,” she added—but that’s probably not true.

Together with her right arm Raf Simons, the Milanese fashion icon jokes about the theme and their decision to send only ultra-skinny 5-pocket jeans down the runway. There are no shirts, just slim, distressed denim jackets—for looks not everyone can pull off–and after seasons of oversize looks we all felt more relaxed, but that’s how the story goes. New trends bring oxygen in the market. But the message is clear, despite provocative, as only Miuccia Prada can send.

“After many seasons spent exploring different ideas, silhouettes, and complexities, we asked ourselves: why not focus on just one thing? It seemed exciting to us,” says Simons. 

“We asked ourselves if it was possible to create fifty interesting looks with the same style,” they say.

They showcased only jeans, T-shirts, and denim jackets—the latter also worn as a shirt, stripped down to the essentials and worn as a jacket or under blazers. “We wanted freshness, clarity, anti-decoration, anti-technique, anti-form. Design is beautiful when it has meaning,” they say, also addressing the vast waste of money and energy in the fashion industry.

The discussion shifts to how much can be achieved with very little. “With very few ingredients, a well-made tomato pasta is probably the best in the world,” explains Simons.

“Today it seems that if you don’t spend a million euro, you can’t put on a good fashion show,” the designers continue.

And the concept isn’t new. Elio Fiorucci said it too: “It’s easy to create beautiful collections with expensive materials and complex garments. It’s much harder to work with simple items and use materials that are affordable for everyone…” Of course, he wasn’t referring to luxury fashion aimed at Prada’s target audience, but it remains a mantra everyone should keep in mind.

In this collection, Prada has also simplified its logo to the bare essentials, first by placing its triangle logo without any text on the upper center of the back, and now by adding three snap buttons (ready to host a detachable logo, quoting others, including Margiela and Stone Island) as a nod to the triangular label.

“And fashion can also come from the street, not just from big brands or their major events. It can spring from individuals or from a single idea. There’s too much complicated information out there, and too many people making it that way. That’s why we chose to focus on a pair of jeans.”

They emphasize that in trying to impress, you lose your way. “We preferred the simplicity of a pair of jeans,” they explain. Nothing is obvious, but this is the truth: a pair of jeans is the essence of every wardrobe—essential, functional, goes with everything, simple, and chic. Today more than ever. Let’s all start from here.