Prada's past fashion becomes The Great Gatsby's future

The glamour of the Roaring Twenties has made the most talked about movie in fashion circles. Baz Luhrmann's US$125 million adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic story of obsessive love, empty lives and extraordinary wealth has at last hit the big screen - and with it 40 dresses adapted from the Prada and Miu Miu archives.

Miuccia Prada worked closely with Luhrmann and his wife and chief collaborator, Catherine Martin, in creating dresses for the glittering Jazz Age scenes in the movie. In true flapper style, organza, tulle, metallic lamé and shimmering silk dresses drip with crystals, paillettes and fringing.

The showpiece is a crystal-laden gown dubbed the "chandelier dress", worn by Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan in the pivotal ball scene. "I felt very wealthy," Mulligan told reporters. "It was so heavy and just felt so decadent and elegant."

The dress itself was based on the chandelier dress in Prada's spring-summer 2010 collection. Some of the fur stoles and simple silhouettes used in the film also harken back to the 2011 spring-summer collection.

Miuccia Prada admitted she hadn't realised how easily some of her archive designs could be translated into '20s pieces.

A selection of Prada-Martin costumes are currently on display at Prada in New York and will be shown in Tokyo and then the IFC Mall in Shanghai in mid-July. These gowns reflect the razzle-dazzle of the era yet somehow look very modern with a change of accessories.