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Prada, SpA is an Italian fashion company (also known as a "label" or "house") with retail outlets worldwide.
The company, originally known in Italian as Fratelli Prada ("Prada Brothers"), was founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. In 1978, Mario's granddaughter Miuccia Prada inherited what was still a leather goods business from her mother, and led the company's expansion into couture.
Prada's first prêt-à-porter, or "ready-to-wear" collection was designed by Miuccia Prada in the autumn/winter season of 1989.
In addition to the original Prada line, the company introduced the Miu Miu collection, a lower-priced line aimed at a younger audience, in 1992. The Miu Miu line, which shares Miuccia Prada's nickname, emphasizes earthy colors and a less haute couture look, evoking an overall more bohemian style. In its advertising campaigns, waif-like models in "home photo" poses further the look. Miu Miu clothing is often simple, and evokes a continual image of high-end vintage items. It was followed by the Prada Sport collection, which featured tennis shoes.
Prada won a Council of Fashion Designers of America International Award for accessories in 1993.
As luxury conglomerate
Like the current Gucci and Christian Dior groups, Prada held, for a time, a portfolio of designer labels under its corporate umbrella.
Following the lead of other companies in a popular trend to absorb as many other fashion houses as possible, Prada took on large debts when it acquired the financially floundering Rome-based house of Fendi in the early 1990s. Prada assumed shares in Fendi with the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH) company. Prada was unable to turn around/support the money-losing Fendi label, and sold its Fendi shares to LVMH. Prada is still recovering from this debt.
The Prada Group's other notable purchases in the 1990s were the Helmut Lang and Jil Sander labels. By 2006, however, the Jil Sander label had been sold, and the group was planning to sell the Helmut Lang label as well. Jil Sander was sold to the private equity firm Change Capital Partners, which is headed Luc Vandevelde, the chairman of Carrefour.[http://www.hoovers.com/jil-sander/--ID__59169--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
Architecture
Prada has commissioned international architects, most notably Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron, to design flagship stores in various locations, both as a marketing and branding concept as well as a differentiating feature.
In 2005, near the West Texas towns of Valentine and Marfa, a pair of Scandanavian artists, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, unveiled Prada Marfa, a sculpture masquerading as a Prada mini-boutique. Located along an isolated stretch of U.S. Highway 90, the 15 by 25-foot adobe and stucco building was partially funded by the Prada Foundation.
Counterfeiting
Prada handbags and accessories are highly counterfeited due to their standing as a status symbol. Their relatively simple symbol design makes counterfeiting easy, and buyers may have difficulty discerning between authentic bags and fakes.
Normally, counterfeit bags are sold in flea markets, small stores, and on the internet on auction sites. In June of 2006, a man who had purchased three Prada handbags from a Sam's Club store in Kentucky sued Wal-Mart (Sam's Club parent company), alleging that the bags were fake.//www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/14836991.htm He had given two of the bags to his wife and one to his sister, who lived in Italy. When his sister's bag began falling apart, she took it the Prada factory near her; they informed her the bag was counterfeit.
References in popular culture
- In Family Guy, Meg felt left out because she had a plain, boring purse. Her parents wouldn't give her the $1100 needed to buy a Prada bag, so she got a job to buy one herself. In this episode, the Prada bag is seen as a status symbol (and later a bribe).
- Lauren Weisberger titled her bestselling 2003 roman à clef purportedly about her onetime boss, Anna Wintour, The Devil Wears Prada. A movie of the same name, The Devil Wears Prada, based on the book, was released on 30 June 2006.
- The character of Kouda from the manga High School Girls is shown with a Prada bag, to show how rich she is compared to other students.
- In the cartoon Stripperella the title character has had various Prada items, such as a (bottomless) purse and the boots of her superhero costume.
- In the comic strip Boondocks the character Riley steals a pair of Prada shoes from a man who mistakes him for a shoeshine boy.
- In the television show House, M.D, Dr House is interviewing people. Dr. James Wilson is amazed at a woman whom House is interviewing. When House points out her shoes, Wilson says "they were Prada", House counters with, "they were not Prada,.. you wouldn't know Prada if it stepped on your scrotum" obviously referring to the counterfeiting arts. House says although near perfect, she is considered shallow as she is wearing a pair of shoes which are obviously uncomfortable.
- In the TV show Big Brother UK Series 7, contestant Grace asks Big Brother for a party. She offers to trade in her Prada shoes so that she can have this party.
External links
- Prada.com — Web page for the Prada fashion house.
- MiuMiu.com — Web page for the Prada branch Miu Miu.
- Prada Tower Tokyo Pictures from the famous 2003-built Tower in Aoyama, Tokyo
- Pradafan Web page for Prada, includes how to detect fake Prada.
- Prada Marfa by Elmgreen & Dragset
- Manolo's Prada blog (Manolo the ShoeBlogger is not to be mistaken for Manolo Blahnik).
- Prada Boutique Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan
"Prada"