More the story of how a little bag put Prada on the lips of the rich and famous.
September 2, 2009Evita was only interested in politics,’ Madonna once mused, and then added in explanation, ‘That’s only because Prada hadn’t started making dresses!’ One summer, the American actresses Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robin Givens and Jennifer Tilly were all snapped wearing the same checked Prada coat. At the last Oscars ceremony, Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore both wore shiny Prada dresses. Kristin Scott Thomas, Ruth Rogers, Princess Caroline, Jerry Hall, Helen Fielding they all carry their Prada bags. Why is this?
‘I have a fashion sensibility,’ says Miuccia. ‘I like before what other people like later on. If it’s good for me, it’s good also for other people.’ So despite her initial reluctance to see herself as a fashion designer, she has become the success story of the decade. Prada is a family-run business Miuccia’s grandfather launched it in 1913 and her husband currently manages it and its success is cloaked in secrecy. But it is one of the very few high-fashion labels that is in an expansionary mood despite the slowdown in the Asian market. London’s third Prada store, on Old Bond Street, is under construction and will open in September; worldwide, there are now more than 100 Prada shops, up from 61 in 1996, 45 in 1995 and just one in 1988. Turnover is said to double each season, and the American bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter estimates last year’s sales at pounds 392 million. And yet the first Prada clothes collection appeared only in 1988; the first Prada underwear range last year; and the first Prada perfume is yet to be launched.
All comments are moderated. Your comments will not appear here unless approved by the blog owner. Thank you.
