The hype surrounding a Prada show is second to none, partly because it’s impossible to predict what will happen. And yet the label remains so influential that deciphering what could happen, and what the clothes say about the here and now, has become something of a ritual.

No one expected it to be about fear, though. “I struggle to see that the world is becoming conservative. And I’m very afraid,” were the ominous last words of Miuccia Prada, the label’s head designer, speaking after the show. If even Prada fears conservatism, then what hope is there for fashion?

The show began with elements borrowed from the menswear collection in June. We sat on the same blow-up square seating, and the first few models also wore shorts, although here they went down to the knee (the men’s were micro length) and came in dirty jewel tones of duchesse satin.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shorts mimicked the menswear collection, but these were in jewel-coloured duchesse satin. Photograph: Pietro D'aprano/Getty Images

Then “the clash between two opposites”, as she put it, went into full swing. Mixing masculine and feminine is a de facto Prada move, but this season that went out of the window. Any conflict was internalised by women and women alone.

If conservatism was one theme in Thursday night’s show in Milan, it was played off against another, rooted in “fantasy, freedom and liberation” said the designer. On the catwalk that meant we saw two Prada women. One was prim and ready for mass, with girls in collars and cashmere jumpers in various shades of black and grey. Black trapeze dresses were voluminous and heavy. Peacoats were buttoned up to the neck. And then there was the liberated Prada woman in extreme colour, fluoros and tie-dye. Tennis skirts fluttered in bright pink. Mustard was paired with lime green. The colour schemes were brazen and reassuringly awkward.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bold colours, clashing patterns and Tudor-style headbands filled the catwalk. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

If her intention was to “break down” the divide, Prada did this by messing with the order. Instead of the two looks flowing into one another, one interrupted the other, a moment helpfully demarcated by the music, which jumped from grindcore to Jane Birkin and back again.

Like the menswear show, sexiness was a theme of sorts. A pair of white bloomers peeked cheekily through a white gauzy dress, and a handful of models wore swimsuits slashed navel deep as tops, but sex was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Slashed swimsuits worn as tops gave an air of sexiness. Photograph: Estrop/Getty Images

The undulating fortune of Prada is a hot topic in fashion. In past years, it has lost ground to both new and old rivals in an industry dominated by cash-rich conglomerates such as LVMH and Kering. Revenues in the first six months of the year were up 9.4% at constant exchange rates year-on-year but there are still concerns. Prada has two gameplans. One is to extend use of the Rem Koolhaas-designed Prada foundation to other artists such as Spike Lee and Sofia Coppola (both were in attendance) and the other involves the merch – or gateway drugs – those affordable tidbits that get you hooked on a brand and have sent Gucci well into the billions. Here that meant wrinkled pop socks with a black or silver logo on almost every model, and a padded headband reminiscent of Tudor times worn by almost every model. And the famous Prada nylon handbags on which she had collaborated with a group of female architects.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wrinkled pop, logo-clad popsocks were this season’s merch - an affordable product that provides a gateway to the brand. Photograph: Swan Gallet/WWD/REX/Shutterstock

There were still questions – were some colourful loafers a pop at Gucci? Were the golden headbands a comment on the halo effect of selling accessories? Who knows.

If Prada tends to handle femininity with a certain level of irony and wit, then here she gave it a sense of foreboding. Gender didn’t seem to be relevant but female identity was.