THE PRADA STORY P
rada started back in 1913 by two brothers Mario and Martino Prada; their store was originally called Fratelli Prada which is translated to Prada Brothers. The first store still stands today and is in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, it sold high quality leather products which included bags, trunks, steamers, and travel accessories. After being in business for six years the business became a symbol of the Italian aristocracy, as they were designated the official supplier to the Italian royal family.
Mario Prada
Whenwanted to pass the business down, he had no intention of giving it to his daughter, but his son was not interested in taking on the family business, so Luisa Prada was Mario’s successor and ran it for 20 years. This is when Miuccia Prada came into the frame. Miuccia Prada always had an interest in fashion and had a unique sense of style. However, she didn’t pursue fashion or art, instead she earned her Ph.D. in political science and then wanted to become an actress so studied five years to become a mime. During her studies she joined the Italian Communist Party and took on the ideologies of second wave feminism. As a nonconformist, left wing student in the 70s she began to experiment with her style, and would often sport Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin. In 1970 she started working with her mother and in 1978 succeeded Luisa as head of Prada. Miuccia then Patrizio Bertelli who had his own leather goods firm. They went on to get married in 1987. Patrizio was the one who convinced Miuccia to move on from the existing business model and branch out.
Accessories
The first change to the brand started with the famous nylon bags. Using nylon in bags had never really been done before. The first line of these bags was released in 1979 and although not an instant success they later became Prada’s first triumph. Miuccia loved anything industrial and so nylon instantly sparked a connection with her. She would continue to experiment with the fabric and in 1985 the famous nylon tote bag was designed. The bag had a sleek black look but sported the metal triangle logo.
It was clear that Prada had mastered bags and it was now time for Miuccia to tackle clothes and other accessories. Firstly, a line of footwear was released shortly followed by Prada’s ready to wear collections. The 80s was known for its bold silhouettes and colour palette but Miuccias designs completely contradicted these. Even from the very first clothing designs Prada showed its aesthetic and stuck to it, proving that Miuccia was following her own style. Later Prada released Mui Mui, Prada Sport and the Prada eyewear collection.
Miu
Miu is Prada’s diffusion line and focused on a younger demographic that wanted to have fun with fashion. Whilst it was obvious that the two brands were connected, Miu Miu presented a more youthful and vibrant. The clothes were more wearable and accessible than Prada’s normal collections. Ones of their most popular items of clothing that they released was the micro mini skirt, when it first appeared on the Spring runway show. Miu Miu proved a success as it expanded Prada’s consumer base and has stood the test of time as the ultimate cool girl brand.
about the bad girls I knew at school, the ones I envied”
“It’s
PRADA AND ART
Below
Prada Marfa permanent land mark project
Prada has always had a connection to art, with Prada Milano Arte a non-profit foundation opening in 1993, the Via Spartaco 8 provided an open space for all kinds of exhibitions. The foundation later grew to show photography, cinema and architecture. In 2011 the Fondazione moved to a new studio, a baroque palazzo on the Grand Canal. It has showed the works of Damien Hurst and Anish Kapoor amongst many more. One very successful installation that was conceived was a sculpture by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, that was an imitation of a Prada store in the middle of route 90 in Texas. It was designed to blend in with the surrounding environment and decay over time into the landscape.
The Story of
Raf Simons is from Belgium and started his career as an intern for Walter Van Beirendonck but he was studying industrial and furniture design. This internship was huge turning point for Raf, as before this he never thought about being a fashion designer, “I always thought that fashion was a bit superficial”. However, as a part of his internship he attended Martin Margiela’s Spring 1990 all-white show, this completely changed his perspective and he wanted to design clothes. In 1995 he released his first menswear collection and so began his brand ‘Raf Simons’. His clothes had a unique look and immediately gained an interest with the youth. In 2000 he left his business behind for a year to teach fashion at Viennas University of Applied Arts which he did for 5 years. After his year break, he re-opened his company and in 2005 released another menswear line named ‘Raf by Raf Simons’. Raf then took a huge leap into womenswear, which he had never designed, when Jil Sander had him replace Jil Sander as creative director. After seven years at Jil Sander he had a quick two month break before becoming artistic director at Christian Dior, which he stayed at for three years. His last company that he worked for before Prada was Calvin Klein which he left in 2018.
For reasons that are unknown Raf Simons closed his brand after his SS 23 London show. After the company was open for 27 years Raf announced on the 21st of November that he would no longer be making anymore collections and that the Spring Summer 23 collection would be the last one. The show took place in the club Printworks and was packed with over 1,000 guests. With this collection there was less emphasis on branding, and it truly focused on silhouettes and colours. He had clothing with prints from artist Philippe Vandenberg, saying things such as ‘Kill them all and dance’. Some might say it was simple, but it was coherent, and the stripped back ideas presented something fresh and sexy. Whilst there won’t be any newer collections to come from Raf Simons some of his clothes are still available to buy from his website. They are remake of some of his most iconic collections such as hoodies from the AW 2001 Riot, Riot, Riot collection. However, many of his other designs are still variable on websites such as Matches Fashion and Farfetch. He just selected a few pieces that he believed were stepping points in his career.
Raf has always had a connection with the past and the future, and he has often talked about how he likes to combine them together in his work. Raf has always had a way of linking his past with his interpretation of the future. An example of this was when he was working as artistic director for Christian Dior. During the SS14 collection is very apparent of his Raf’s inspiration to look to past for inspiration but ground the collection firmly in the now. He took the classic shapes that Dior has been known for since the beginning of time and experimented with futuristic materials and colours. Another example of him looking to the past for inspiration was with his namesake
brand in the AW18 runway show. The scenery presented with an array of props such as fruit, breads, sausages, cheeses, cakes, glasses of wine, bottles of champagne and lavish floral bouquets. Which were an ode to Uli Edel’s 1981 cult film Christiane F. .The film was opne from his childhood that him and many other teenagers in Belgium would have had to study. However, the clothes told a new story, with deconstructed knits and latex gloves, it told a new version of the story. It showed that the message behind Christiane F. , which tackled issues of drug abuse, is still important today. How Raf has always had a great eye for launching the past into the future is maybe why his work with Miuccia has succeeded.
n the 2nd of April 2020 Raf Simons joined the Prada team as co-creative director with Miuccia Prada. This means that they share equal ideas for the company. Whilst some might say that this is an unusual pairing the figures are telling otherwise as it seems to be working in their favour. The figures are showing a great success with this partnership as in the first half of 2022 they had a Net Revenue of 1.9 bln which is an increase of 22% from the year before. The relationship between the two
creatives is the true personification of old meets new. Miuccia has always been praised for her classic and eccentric designs, where she stays true to her own style. Especially in the mid 90s Prada’s collections were often described as “Ugly Chic”. In an article from the Washington post in 1996 it talked about the S/S 96 collection, saying “Ugly is in” and named Miuccia Prada a “trend setter”. `So while Miuccia’s vision for Prada was firmly placed within tradition, Raf Simons has always been an innovator. By doing this the youth have always had a strong connection to everything he creates whether it was for his namesake brand or any other brand that he was working for. So, it would always have been the case with Prada that he would bring a younger demographic with him.
There was a lot of anticipation surrounding their first collection together. It debuted in September of 2020 during Milan Fashion
Week; it was during the pandemic and so wasn’t an ordinary show. The space was full of monitors and cameras capturing every intimate part of the collection and bringing it into a digital world. It was obvious that this collection was not
built around trends, it was built around Miuccia, and clearly based on her style. You can clearly see Miuccia influences within the 50s silhouettes and knitted jumpers. These combined with cut out turtlenecks and tapered nylon trousers created a sleek but modern look that showed a fresh side to Prada.
Although no one is sure on the next steps of Prada many speculate that the closing of Raf Simons is no coincidence, and in fact is setting up for Miuccia to pass the torch on to Raf. Mimma Viglezio a creative consultant and editor believes that it is “not a collaboration, it is a succession plan”. So, will Miuccia retire and give it all to Raf or is it simply a way to bring a new audience to Prada?
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