RAF SIMONS SPRING/SUMMER

WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF 3D DESIGN, RAF DEVELOPED HIS TRADEMARK FEATURES INCLUDE ELONGATED TORSO, LONG ARMS AND OVERSIZED CUFFS. FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, SIMONS QUICKLY BUILT A REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHTAFTER DESIGNERS IN THE INDUSTRY. CATCHING THE EYE OF SOME OF FASHIONS MOST ESTABLISHED HOUSES, INCLUDING JIL SANDER AND DIOR. AND THIS IS WHERE RAF BECAME KNOWN AS THE PARAMEDIC OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY. REVITALISING BRANDS, BRINGING THEM BACK TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE FASHION SCENE.

RAF’S HISTORY WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES ONLY BOOSTED HIS ALREADY SUCCESSFUL CAREER EVEN FURTHER. AS WELL AS THE HUGE FAN BASE SURROUNDING HIS OWN LABEL, WITH HIS DESIGNS AND COLLECTIONS BEING SEEN ON HIGH STATUS CELEBRITIES. INCLUDING TRAVIS SCOTT AND ASAP ROCKY, ACQUIRING NEW CONSUMERS, HELPING RAF REACH A YOUNGER AUDIENCE.

MUCH LIKE MIUCCIA, RAF’S INVOLVEMENT WITH OTHERS IN THE CREATIVITY IS PREVALENT. IN PARTICULAR HIS INVOLVEMENT OF THE EDUCATION OF THE NEW GENERATION THAT WILL BE DRESSING US. LECTURING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS VIENNA BETWEEN OCTOBER 2000 AND JUNE 2005. IN ADDITION TO THIS, THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER HE HAS COLLABORATED WITH MANY OTHER DESIGNER BRANDS FROMADIDAS TO FRED PERRY. FURTHER DIVERSIFYING HIS WORKANDABILITIES.

ONE KEY ASPECT OF PRADA’S METHODS HAS REMAINED THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE DECADES. THE CONNECTION THAT PRADA HAS WITH THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY, INVOLVING ITSELF AND SURROUNDING ITSELF WITH CREATIVE PEOPLE FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS AND ALL ARTISTIC PRACTICE. FROM THE COLLABORATION AND CREATION OF THE LG PRADA SMARTPHONE, FIRST LAUNCHED IN 2007. TO THE PRADA MARFA, 2005. (A PERSONAL FAVOURITE CREATIVE VENTURE) A PERMEANT, ARCHITECTURAL INSTALLATION BY SCANDINAVIAN ARTISTS ELMGREEN & DRAGSET. THE INSTILLATION IS A DIRECT COPY OF ONE OF PRADA’S RETAIL STORES, SHOWCASING THE FAMOUS PRADA GREEN, ACCORDING TO PRADA, FOLLOWING PRADA’S EXACT AESTHETIC CODES. (PRADA, 2023)

ART IS A CLEAR PASSION OF MIUCCIA PRADA’S, SEEN THROUGHOUT HER CAREER. ALTHOUGH SHE IS SAID TO NOT LIKE “COLLABORATIONS”. AS SHE EXPLAINED TO THE NEW YORK TIMES, HER REASONING BEING THAT THE INTENT BEHIND THE COLLABORATIONS ALWAYS SEEM TO BE MONEY FOCUSED NOT ACTUALLY SHOWCASING THE ARTISTS OR THEIR DESIGNS. (FRIEDMAN, 2021) EVEN SO HER INVOLVEMENT WITH THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY IS PREVALENT. FROM BEGINNING AS A MIME, DESIGNING COSTUMES FOR THEATRE, FILM AND MUSIC, TO HER INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION. RECOGNISING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF CREATIVES. THIS LOVE FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY AND THOSE IN THE INDUSTRY REFLECTED HER DECISION TO PERMANENTLY COLLABORATE WITH DESIGNER RAF SIMONS, INVITING HIM INTO THE WORLD OF PRADA.