As is so often the case, today’s Prada show was not so much about a 'look' as a mood. An expression of a new sensibility that nods to where we are now, then offers a window into how we’ll feel when the autumn leaves fall. For where Prada leads, others follow.

And so began the performance of Prada Autumn/Winter 2014. Act Two, we were told, in the ongoing drama that began with the Menswear show earlier this year. 'Miuccia is inspired by the idea of performance this season’, said hair stylist, Guido. 'It’s a very basic bun. Basic, elegance - like a ballerina has finished her curtain call, thrown her coat over her shoulders - and fled from the theatre into the night'. Applying Redken's new Flex Moveability 05 through the hair, Guido raked it back into a tight, semi wet look bun.

Picking up on the theme, make-up artist Pat McGrath conjured images of German dancer and choreographer, Pina Bausch, then imagined the most basic form of make up: Blue eye shadow, red lipstick and cloggy, black lashes. Those three things we all experiment with when rootling through our mother’s make-up bags as children.

For some girls, a slash of a blurry red lip epitomised beautiful imperfection. McGrath handed them their very own bullet of pillarbox to apply themselves - then watched as multiple shapes and textures individual to each model emerged organically.

Both McGrath and Guido used the word 'basic' time and time again to describe their finished result. Not perhaps a definition you or I would apply to this exquisite vision. But the intention to create a pared-down mode of beauty that needed no frills or frippery was evident.  For its real allure came in its fluidity. Like the insouciant grace of the models who made the performance, the smear of blue eye shadow and smudge of a red lip conveyed movement. This was a beauty that evolved, lived, loved and breathed with the woman.

The lesson? Beauty is no longer about the creation of a static look. It must now adopt a life of its own. So says Miuccia Prada. And we’re more than happy to dance to her tune.