Increasingly, when new collections hit the runways, it’s hard not to wonder: Were these clothes made for Instagram? That was never more true than last September, when Prada’s spring 2014 collection showed in Milan. Almost instantly, the collection — which featured works by artists Stinkfish, Jeanne Detallante, and Pierre Mornet printed onto handbags and dresses — became the one that launched 1,000 Instagrams.
By January of this year, pieces began to appear in the wild: Anna Dello Russo wore it to the men’s shows in Milan, and Anna Wintour showed up wearing a coat to the season-three Girls premiere. By February, it was popping up in editorials, too — and, subsequently, on the Instagram feeds of Pat McGrath and Lupita Nyong’o. The pieces quickly made the rounds: W’s style director Edward Enninful hosted a party for the collection in Milan in March, where he Instagrammed Naomi Campbell in one of the coats, and Lucky’s Eva Chen and Bryanboy broke out the bedazzled sandals for Instagram months before summer. Click through our slideshow to see how the spring Prada collection — from runway to street style, editorials to red carpets — became one of the most Instagrammed collections ever.