Funding Portfolio is a collection the place affiliate director Kristen Nichols takes an in-depth take a look at the very best designer buys and test-drives them, from new seasonal drops to timeless heirloom objects.

Prada’s spring/summer time 2024 assortment was set to a soundtrack from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 movie Vertigo. The dramatic, suspenseful music accompanied the cinematic imaginative and prescient of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons as fashions walked down the runway in frothy organza attire that cascaded behind them in wind-like impact. Simply as eye-catching had been the satin heels paired with the appears to be like. The appears to be like and sneakers alike—steeped in nostalgia and the bygone glamour of the ‘50s—set the tone for 2024’s return to elegance and opulence that’s already defining the place trend is headed this yr. It is a main flip in trend that marks a shift away from oversize proportions and chunky sneakers with the return of refined clothes and complicated equipment.

The satin kitten heels on Prada’s runway have since carved themselves out as a key purchase for 2024. They’ve landed within the season’s largest editorial shoots, on the new checklist from Threads Styling, and within the closets of the best-dressed folks on the road type scene. Celeb product sourcer Gab Waller additionally named them as a key purchase for the season. “I initially teased the brand new Prada Satin Mules on our TikTok in early January, and the remark part instantly informed me that this was a method to observe. ‘Want these mules’ had been the constant three phrases throughout the submit,” Waller explains of the buzzy heels. There are a number of kinds together with Mary Jane stilettos and sharply-pointed mules, however it’s the square-toe kitten heels which have the makings of a future heirloom piece. Forward, we’re taking a more in-depth take a look at the Prada satin mules, together with all the particulars to know, ideas from trend business specialists, and find out how to type them.

The second I first noticed Prada’s satin mules after they debuted on the spring/summer time 2024 runway at Milan Vogue Week, they gained me over. Particularly, the square-toe kitten heel model. I’ve a delicate spot for kitten heels since they dominate my day-to-day appears to be like, so I am perpetually looking out for a brand new pair so as to add to my closet. I already rely a number of Prada kitten heel in my wardrobe, together with a classic ’90s pair and slingbacks from the spring/summer time 2022 assortment. Each have related pointed shapes, so I used to be instantly drawn to the distinctive sq. silhouette of the new-season type in addition to the throwback ’50s design codes.

Taking a more in-depth take a look at the sneakers on the Prada spring/summer time 2024 runway, they’re completed in lovely shiny satin and low kitten heel. With their elegant strains, the sneakers had been one of many first indicators of the shift in the direction of subtle trend that’s defining type this yr. Prada continues to set the tone the place trend is headed in a bigger sense, so it comes as no shock that Mrs. Prada and Raf Simons had been among the many first designers to usher this new sense of glamour on the runways.

As quickly because the sneakers arrived in-store, I went to see them (and test-drive them) in particular person. The heels had been altered from the unique runway model in manufacturing, reworking the design from a easy kitten heel to an architectural form that’s impressed by the enduring Prada triangle brand. Not each shade from the runway was produced, together with a sizzling pink type that was minimize, however they’re obtainable in 4 colorways together with orange, fern inexperienced, tobacco brown, and black.

The thrill round Prada has been rising, and the model’s satin mules are taking the lead this spring. And that buzz goes past a single procuring merchandise, all the viral social media posts, and conversations inside the trend neighborhood. Taking a look at metrics alone, it’s straightforward to see that Prada is completely thriving, regardless of slowdowns within the luxurious sphere. In accordance with Business of Fashion, Prada gross sales grew 12% in 2023, whereas searches for the model had been up 41%. Prada was named the most well liked model of This fall 2023, in accordance the the Lyst Index. The model’s spring/summer time 2024 runway present was additionally named the #1 assortment of the season in Vogue Runway’s fashion poll. All in all, Prada is within the lead in the case of directional designs which are setting the tone for the place trend is headed, and in addition translating to gross sales.