CONNECT RELATE PRADA

THIS BOOK WILL HOST THE INS AND OUTS OF PRADA, DISSECTING AND ANALYSING PRADA’S ABILITY TO PRODUCE COLLECTIONS THAT INDUCE FEELING, FORMING A NEW FLUID CONNECTION BETWEEN MATERIAL, CONCEPT AND THE CONSUMER. FABRICATING A NEW NARRATIVE THAT FOCUSES ON CONNECTION, FEELING AND REAL LIFE, GROUNDING THE CONSUMER. FORECASTING ITS FUTURE AND PRADA’S NEW CONNECTION TO REALITY. RESEARCHING THE FUSION OF MIUCCIA PRADA AND RAF SIMONS AND THE OUTCOME. TAKING AND APPLYING MY RESEARCH TO PRODUCE A NEW CAMPAIGN, OFFERING A NEW APPROACH FOR PRADA THAT FOCUSES ON REALITY WHILST STAYING TRUE TO THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF PRADA.

THE SENSATION THAT WE KNOW TO BE PRADA FIRST GRACED THE WORLD IN 1913 (PRADA, 2023), IN THE FORM OF A LEATHER GOODS COMPANY. (SABANOGLU, 2022) FOUNDED BY THE GRANDFATHER OF CURRENT HELM MIUCCIA PRADA, MARIO PRADA AND HIS BROTHER MARTINO . TOGETHER OPENING THE VERY FIRST PRADA STORE IN MILAN. STARTING OUT WITH TRUNKS, TRAVEL ACCESSORIES AND BAGS, STILL SOLD STILL TO THIS DAY. ALTHOUGH THE PRADA FRANCHISE CAME FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG RISING THROUGH THE RANKS. ESTABLISHING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES IN NO TIME AT ALL. BECOMING HIGHLY A REGARDED BRAND RECOGNISED BY THOSE OF THE UPPER CLASS. A LARGE CONTRIBUTION OF THIS EARLY SUCCESS WAS THE RECOGNITION THAT CAME WITH BECOMING AN OFFICIAL SUPPLIER OF THE ITALIAN ROYAL HOUSE (PRADA, 2023), JUST 6 YEARS AFTER THE BRANDS CONCEPTION.

LIKE MANY OTHER FAMOUS FASHION DESIGNERS, MIUCCIA PRADA ENTERED THE WORLD OF FASHION VIA A VERY NON TRADITIONAL ROUTE. FIRST EXPRESSING AN INTEREST IN POLITICS BEFORE SHE DID DESIGN. STUDYING IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MILAN, IN 1973 SHE EARNED A DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE. (NOLEN, 2023) POSSIBLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MIUCCIA’S ANALYTICAL WAY OF THINKING.

BY 1975, PRADA BECAME A REAL FAMILY AFFAIR. WITH MIUCCIA PRADA DEVOTING HERSELF TO ACCESSORIES DESIGN. (PRADA, 2023) CONTINUING THE TRADITION OF PRODUCING HIGH- QUALITY ITEMS FOR THE FAMILY BUSINESS, MIUCCIA DESIGNED THE VELA BACKPACK IN 1984. THE FIRST PRODUCT OF AN INNOVATIVE LIGHTWEIGHT NYLON BAG RANGE, WHICH WAS AN IMMEDIATE SUCCESS. STILL PROVING TO BE A STABLE SOUGHT AFTER PIECE TO THIS DAY. WITH A REVIVAL OF ITS OLDER COUNTERPART, PRADA RELEASED THE “RE-NYLON RE-EDITION 2000 MINI BAG” IN 2020. THE NYLON DESIGNS STILL JUST AS POPULAR AS THEY WERE 40 YEARS AGO, GAINING THEIR PLACE ALONGSIDE THE FENDIS AND BIRKINS.

(DAVENPORT, 2023) HARPERS BAZAAR REPORTED THAT THE PRADA NYLON BAG GENERATED OVER 4.2 MILLION VIEWS ON TIKTOK. (DAVENPORT, 2023)

MIUCCIA TRANSFORMED HER FAMILY’S MODEST LEATHER GOODS COMPANY INTO ONE OF FASHIONS MOST FAMOUS HOUSEHOLD NAMES. PROVING HER ABILITIES AND LOVE FOR HER WORK, MIUCCIA PRADA BECAME THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY’S LUXURY GOODS COMPANY IN 1978. EXPANDING PRADA’S GROWING PRODUCT RANGE, PRESENTING THEIR FIRST WOMEN’S SHOE COLLECTION IN 1979. (PRADA, 2023) FOLLOWED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A WOMENSWEAR LINE IN THE LATE 80’S. DEBUTED IN 1988, PRADA DESCRIBED HER WOMEN’S WEAR AS, “UNIFORMS FOR THE SLIGHTLY DISENFRANCHISED” PUSHING PRADA FROM THE SMALL LEATHER GOODS COMPANY IT STARTED AS, TO NEW VENTURES.

The Expansion Of Prada

THE SUCCESS OF PRADA’S GLOBAL PRESENCE CAN BE PARTIALLY ATTRIBUTED TO PATRIZIO BERTELLI. FIRST APPOINTED TO THE BOARD IN 2003 (PRADA, 2023), THEN BECOMING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALONGSIDE WIFE MIUCCIA PRADA. THEIR PARTNERSHIP SAID TO PRESENT THE MARRYING OF CREATIVITY WITH BUSINESS. BERTELLI’S ROLE INVOLVED CONTROLLING PRADA’S ENTIRE SUPPLY CHAIN. HIS STRONG FOCUS ON DETAIL AND QUALITY RESULTED IN THE REINTERPRETATION OF PRADA’S BRAND IDENTITY, REACHING A CONTEMPORARY AUDIENCE. TAKING THE LEGACY OF PRADA IN A NEW DIRECTION.

PRADA NOT ONLY EXPANDED ITS REACH AND MARKETING APPROACH, WE ALSO SAW THE EXPANSION OF PRADA STORES ALL OVER THE WORLD. AGAIN ESTABLISHING ITS PRESENCE THROUGH ITS DNA, THE PRADA STORES FEATURED WALL PAINTED IN A LIGHT GREEN. THIS COLOUR BECOMING KNOWN AS THE “PRADA GREEN”. ALONG WITH THE CHEQUERED BLACK AND WHITE FLOORING, THE GREEN COLOUR BECAME DISTINCTLY RECOGNISABLE AS PRADA. 1983 SAW THE LARGE EXPANSION OF PRADA’S RETAIL SPACES, SHOWCASING THIS NEWAESTHETIC FROM LONDON TO NEW YORK. THE EARLY 90’S SAW INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION, WITH PRADA MAKING FOR ITS STORES IN THE USA, CHINA, AND JAPAN. (PRADA, 2023)

Raf Simons

PARALLEL TO MIUCCIA, RAF DIDN’T INTEND ON, NOR DID HE HAVE ANY DESIRE TO BECOME A GLOBAL SENSATION. BOTH MIUCCIA AND RAF TOOK A NON-TRADITIONAL ROUT INTO THE FASHION INDUSTRY. BEGINNING HIS CAREER IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY AS AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN GRADUATE OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN ANTWERP, BELGIUM. WHERE HE WAS MENTORED BY HEAD OF FASHION AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, LINDA LOPPA. SIMONS WAS FIRST EXPOSED TO THE WORLD OF FASHION WHEN MENTOR AND FRIEND WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK TOOK HIM TO PARIS FASHION WEEK. IT WAS HERE THAT SIMONS CAUGHT THE FASHION BUG, AFTER WATCHING MARTIN MARGIELA’S COLLECTION ON THE RUNWAY. (THOMPSON, 2023) THE BELGIAN FASHION DESIGNER DREW INSPIRATION FROM HIS EXPERIENCE IN PARIS AND THE APPROACH OF MARTIN MARGIELA.

SIMONS WENT ON TO LAUNCH HIS OWN LABEL AND PRODUCE HIS FIRST MENSWEAR COLLECTION IN 1995, RAF BY RAF SIMONS. INJECTED WITH YOUTH CULTURE REFERENCES AND PERSONAL INTERESTS FROM TECHNO TO GOTH AESTHETIC. (THOMPSON, 2023) SETTING A NEW STANDARD AND PRESENTING NEW MENSWEAR STYLES THAT CELEBRATED CULTURE AND FOCUSED ON SILHOUETTE. HIS WORK DESCRIBED AS, “SIMONS LITERALLY MASHED TOGETHER THE MESSINESS OF YOUTH AND THE SQUEAKY CLEANLINESS OF LUXURY FASHION” (RABKIN, 2022) AS A SELF-TRAINED MENSWEAR DESIGNER, WITH NO CLASSIC TRAINING OR TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF WOMENSWEAR. AS A RESULT SIMONS WASN’T TAUGHT THE TRADITIONAL STRICT GENDER BOUNDARIES IN FASHION, RESULTING IN HIS UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH. HIS DESIGNS ALWAYS CHALLENGING GENDER BOUNDARIES.