Miuccia Prada’s spring/summer 2013 menswear models were walking around a vast, industrial space like they owned a couple of galleries each, or at least should permanently reside in one. The carefully planned chiaroscuros, contrasting shadow and light, created the kind of atmosphere that performance artists would die to exhibit in.

Contrasts were a definite keyword. Narrow white and khaki panels were colour-blocked with midnight blue, burgundy, grass green, cream and cornflower blue surfaces. Athleticism came through in the round-neck, low-cut and polo shirts, paired with sweatbands. Rubber, wide-strapped mules also brought back memories of the Olympic swimmers from the Seventies, only the hair wasn’t permed.

Lightweight coats, falling just above the knee, were stellar. Some were clinically monochromatic, others edged in contrasting shades of the same colour or diametrical opposites on the colour wheel. A standout was the black and white Cruella de Vil edition, with just a streak of bleached white running down the inside of the arms. A boxy silhouette wasn’t only the shape du jour for Prada’s leather bags, but manifested itself on front pockets as well.

Male and female models appeared side by side. They moved effortlessly through our conceptions of gender. It was only the singular whiff of amber fur that tipped the scale towards the feminine at one point. The harmony of yin and yang was also achieved by boys and girls being joined on the catwalk by men twice their age. No one blinked, because it wasn’t really about them. It was about ageless, genderless, trendless concepts – a bit like Prada.