Prada's love affair with the dorkiest sport of all time
plus vintage bowler bags at strike-worthy prices (does that pun even make sense? bowling is ridiculous that's the best I got)
One thing about a Prada man… he’s carrying a sexy ass bag. And it might contain a bowling ball.
A handful of vintage-inspired leather weekenders stole the show as Prada debuted its fall ‘25 men’s collection in Milan. The house has a history with the bowling bag shape — Prada released its first bowler in the spring 2000 collection, reissued it in 2012, and brought it to life once again in 2020 for its 20th anniversary. Though other designers have followed with their own iterations, the bowler is first and foremost a Prada classic.
The original design (and the 2025 design, perhaps even more so) draws inspiration from retro bowling bags popularized in the ‘60s and ‘70s. These bags were function over fashion: bowling bags contain a wire or plastic frame to hold a ball securely in place and keep one’s shoes tucked in below. A short top handle and a zip-open front panel allow the bowler to travel with and access their equipment easily.
Prada’s playbook was a little different. The high-fashion bowler flattened the body and elongated the handles, allowing the owner to sling it over their shoulder for that crucial day-to-night transition all early aughts magazines warned us about. (The quicksand of the fashion world, iykwim.)
The 2025 version is more suited for a weekend getaway than a drink with the girls — it is a menswear collection after all, and men are always allowed more space to carry their belongings. The rest of the show suggests he might be packing a spare set of pajamas and an Annie Proulx novel.
It’s fitting for Prada to circle back to the style now, as the hottest luxury purse of last year is a bowling bag in disguise. The Row Margaux, routinely sold out with a miles-long waitlist, borrows its shape and handles from our beloved bowler. The sleeker, less sporty design lends itself more to the ‘quiet luxury’ crowd, but in this collection, Prada is interested in something a bit louder. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simmons looked a little closer at the source material for this updated iteration — and I’m convinced we might have a few of the same bags on our eBay watchlists.
Below the fold:
ᯓ★ 20 secondhand Prada bowlers, most in the $100-$250 range
ᯓ★ The $30 vintage bag on the collection’s inspo board
ᯓ★ More takeaways from the show (spoiler alert: we’re talking campus boots)
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