In an era where brand films, digital reels, and social feeds have become the standard for fashion campaigns, Prada boldly turns the page – quite literally. For Spring 2025, the Italian house unveils a beautifully bound collection of short stories by Ottesa Moshfegh, starring actor Carey Mulligan in each narrative role. Titled Ten Protagonists, the book’s stories echo the season’s core idea: a celebration of individuality, personality, and the power of clothing as an expression of character.
Under the creative direction of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, this collection radiates a sense of polarity – think pieces that can be combined, rethought, and lived in, rather than forming one monolithic aesthetic. It’s a dynamic perspective that finds a natural companion in Moshfegh’s writing. The American author, known for novels such as Eileen and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, has forged a name by crafting female characters with raw and sometimes jarring honesty. Her knack for dissecting the complexities of human behavior makes her the ideal collaborator for Prada’s new literary – meets – fashion concept.
Clothing That Crafts the Character
In Ten Protoganists, Moshfegh works in first-person narratives to animate Prada’s Spring 2025 pieces through each of Mulligan’s personae. There’s Patricia, the corporate translator who thrives on fiction, wearing a rumpled pink Oxford shirt and belted navy trousers. Alina, a tech – savvy programmer with a penchant for dating “glitches”, pairs a puss-bow blouse and pencil skirt with a witty carabiner belt. Then there’s Fanny, the photographer granddaughter of a man who taught her to “see” without sight, donning a sporty yellow windbreaker with a reflective embroidered skirt. Every woman steps off the page in carefully constructed looks that encapsulate Moshfegh’s offbeat, boundary – pushing approach the storytelling – and Prada’s own refusal to be pinned down to one aesthetic.
Moshfegh’s Ongoing Love Affair with Fashion
Although best known for her literary achievements, Moshfegh is no stranger to the fashion world. A devout lover of vintage, she’s penned articles on personal style for various magazines, sold curated pieces from her own closet on DePop, and has walked the runway for Maryam Nassir Zadeh. She’s also collaborated with labels like Proenza Schouler, writing show notes – demonstrating her capacity to merge narrative craftsmanship with sartorial vision. This partnership with Prada solidifies her position at the intersection of the written word and high fashion.
Carey Mulligan’s Transformative Roles
An actor of expansive range, Mulligan’s history of playing nuanced, trailblazing women makes her an inspired muse for Moshfegh’s fictional ensemble. Since breaking through in An Education—earning her a BAFTA Award and an Oscar nomination—she has continued to command attention in roles as diverse as the vengeful heroine of Promising Young Woman and Felicia Montealegre in Maestro. A longtime Prada devotee on the red carpet, Mulligan’s presence in Ten Protagonists seamlessly embodies the nuanced style and storytelling Prada is championing this season.
A Global Book Launch Tour
In keeping with Prada’s prestigious heritage, the brand will host exclusive in-store events beginning in February, unveiling the book in Tokyo, Milan, Paris, and London. These salons of fashion and literature are poised to attract style aficionados and bibliophiles alike, bridging creative industries and continents as only Prada can.
Ultimately, Prada’s Spring 2025 campaign is more than a collection—it’s an ode to the power of narrative and the many stories our clothes can tell. By inviting Moshfegh to pen these characters and casting Carey Mulligan as their muse, Prada elevates its runway vision into an artful intersection of page, performance, and personal style. It’s a daring stride forward into a future where fashion’s greatest hallmark is its ability to inspire imagination—one story at a time.
