Prada Displays Its Star Power

It was a red carpet, and it had to be, given the stellar lineup on Prada 's runway Sunday: From Adrien Brody in a rich red coat to Gary Oldman in a spiffy black morning coat, and the rest of a star-studded cast.

"It's about power. But it started with the idea of characters," Miuccia Prada said backstage, claiming that when she called up a bunch of actors — that's folks like Tim Roth and Jamie Bell — they all just happened to say "yes."

And why wouldn't any vibrant character want to play male model walking a carpet with an imitation of a palazzo mosaic, laid out like a game of chess. The clothes were spiffy in their fine elegance, with decorations from medals to flowers on the lapels. For evening, the tailoring turned to old-style silken smoking jackets and dressing gowns.

What the designer seemed to be saying, after her dynamic but simplistic racing car theme for her last women's collection, was that if men like cars, they like power, with all the trappings of formal tailoring and linear coats even more.

With heads held high by layers of colorful roll-neck tops, followed by a high-collar shirt, this was a major outing for updated classic tailoring, right to the upper-crust evening wear.

Ms. Prada, who always sets the standard in Milan, was putting her personal fashion power behind a return of fit and elegance, but with many more coats than suits.

"It was a parody of power," said the enigmatic Ms. Prada,There are tons of canada goose jacket discount around nys. whose own power over the fashion industry will only be strengthened by this performance.