Prada focuses on texture, beading and statement cardigans

There was continuity and change for Prada's autumn-winter 2017 collection in Milan Thursday as one of the city's major influencer labels showed a powerful collection that generated cheers and wild applause, as well as reviving the statement cardigan and elevating the crochet bra to stardom. It also carried over the feather edging that was a key feature of the earlier SS17 collection.

The show, held in the Italian luxury brand's historic headquarters in the northern Italian city, was set in the recreated bedroom of a teenage girl -- clearly one obsessed with everything Prada.

The audience was perched on beds decked out in flowery sheets and colourful fur bedspreads next to walls plastered with Prada stickers and posters advertising the collection. Miuccia Prada, who is hardly unused to strong receptions, looked overwhelmed at the rapturous welcome given to a show that featured corduroy suits, trailing crochet scarves, embroidered mohair skirts and the humble cardigan given a lift with intricate beading.

Backstage, she said the collection was an examination of modern-day femininity through the classic "weapons of seduction" -- furs, feathers, underwear -- which have remained unchanged despite feminism's progress.

This being an autumn offer, textures were fuzzy and cosy even for a fitted red bra dress with peplum hem worn by Lindsey Wixson that looks set to be a big seller at retail.

Hats were Gavroche artist caps or Eskimo-style hoods which ruffled in the breeze as the models strutted their stuff. The hoods, pompoms swinging, were delightfully matched with slinky beaded dresses in pinks or greens.

Autumnal colours dominated, but they had an intensity and lightness often reserved for spring/summer, while flowers were still in bloom on tweed pieces, with jumpers and skirts lifted with panels of roses or falling petals.

There will be no worries about cold snaps for the Prada customer, thanks to the season's furry boots worn to the knee, some featuring the line's pompoms. And for the home? A pair of fur-rimmed slippers.

Skirts were fun, kicking out at the mid-calf hem in a ruffle that was split at the back to show bare legs. Coats and jackets sported short capes in fur in startling blues, pinks or oranges.

The collection's positive reception will be a boost for the luxury Italian fashion house, which was hit by a slump in revenues in 2016 after struggling to recover from the downturn in global luxury spending.

Additional reporting by Sandra Halliday