On the Carpet of a Fashion Show

May 24
2 min read

Every fashion show is built on a surface. Some are forgotten. Others stay in the mind. The carpet at Prada’s Fall/Winter 2025 show belongs to the second group.

Models walking through Prada’s AW25 runway set at Fondazione Prada’s Deposito, framed by metal scaffolding and a patterned carpet originally designed by Catherine Martin.

It was designed by Catherine Martin, the Australian costume designer known for building entire cinematic worlds, from walls and furniture to floors and light. She shaped the visual memory of films such as Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby, and has received multiple Academy Awards for her work.

For some time, Martin has also been designing her own carpet collections with Designer Rugs Australia. What belongs to her in the process? The pattern, scale, colour palette, feeling and story. The production is carried out by artisans in Nepal. In this way, the

language she uses on film sets, where the floor becomes part of the narrative, continues inside the interior.

The model seen at the show is called Black Pearl. Its surface moves from deep blue to turquoise, recalling the light of a pearl inside an oyster and the darker tones of the ocean. And its pattern reflects Martin’s signature Art Nouveau language.

Prada AW25 runway at Fondazione Prada’s Deposito, with models moving through metal scaffolding and a patterned Catherine Martin carpet. — At Fondazione Prada’s Deposito, rawness met refinement. Metal scaffold framed the space, set against a carpet originally designed by Catherine Martin. Like the clothes, the setting questioned where structure ends and decoration begins.

Where does fashion begin?

At the show, metal scaffold, concrete seating and a soft surface that felt almost cinematic came together with the kind of contrast Prada often works with: cold metal against warm pattern. The carpet told a story of its own, separate from the clothes. Its decorative lines framed the walking silhouettes and turned the runway into something closer to a staged scene than a simple fashion space.

In a fashion show, the first thing we usually notice is the clothing. But what shapes how those clothes are perceived and what first reaches the viewer’s subconscious, is often the runway itself.

The runway sets the pace of the walk. It tells the eye where to look. It suggests the tone of the season before a word is said. This is why designers such as Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons and many others treat the choice of surface as seriously as the clothes themselves.