Prada

"Perhaps inevitably as the public face of the company, Miss Boo quickly became the chief cause of concern. For the past few months she had been sporting a red ponytail and looked like a high school cheerleader, which wasn’t nearly good enough for the cool, urban image we had been trying to create. She seemed barely old enough to order milkshakes in the local diner let alone hang out in down- town bars. So the design team tried to make her more sophisticated by giving her different hair. But none of the styles they experimented with, from white dreads to black Afro, was quite right. The trouble was that she almost seemed to be trying too hard. As Kajsa put it, ‘She’s so cool, she’s really uncool.’ It was difficult to know what could be done. ‘Maybe she should change her hair all the time,’ Kajsa said, ‘like every three months. She’s such a fashion victim that she’s always on top of what’s going on.’ One way or another, it was clear that we needed some expert advice. So we booked the world’s top hair-stylist, Eugene Soulemain, whose clients included top Holly- wood actresses and fashion houses like Prada, Louis Vuitton and Hussein Chalayan. For a few weeks, while she waited for Eugene to fit her into his busy schedule, Miss Boo sat bald but beautiful in a quiet corner of Niclas’s Macintosh. But it wasn’t enough that she should just look cool. She had to talk cool too. A journalist called Lucy Ryder-Richardson wrote some lines for her, but the style-was thought to be too European when the point of Miss Boo was that she was the kind of girl who felt at home all over the world. So at the beginning of October we brought the New York style commentator Glenn O’Brien over to London for a couple of days to make her hip but transatlantic. Glenn had begun his career working for Andy Warhol at Interview magazine and went on to be variously a comedian, poet, author and copywriter. Michael Skidmore had known him at Barneys, where Glenn had been creative director for advertising."

"Non-exclusivity. Note that Branding is a non-exclusive type of Power. Indeed, a direct competitor might have an equally impactful brand that targets the same customers (e.g., Prada and Luis Vuitton and Hermès). All competitors with brand Power, however, still will…"

"? What role did the meeting with the energetic Tuscan entrepreneur Patrizio Bertelli play, who became her partner in business and life, and who made vertical integration his mantra and complete control over the manufacturing, distribution, and commercial processes his trademar"

"How did Miuccia Prada transform her grandfather's shop in downtown Milan into one of the most successful luxury brands in the world, controlling some of the most coveted brands, such as Miu Miu, capable of attracting relentless attentio"

"Two years later, she debuted with her first collection, presented in an elegant building behind the Arch of Peace: an unconventional, original, independent designer, completely foreign to the prevailing aesthetics of those years, a avant-garde woman who had already destabilized the luxury world with a black nylon backpack. Her name is Miuccia Prada, a maternal surname that formally became hers when in the 1980s she was adopted by her aunt Nanda. About a decade earlier, she had found herself, attracted by the love for beauty, taking over the store in the Galleria opened by her grandfather Mario and then passed on to her mother Luisa and aunt."

"Patrizio Bertelli from Arezzo is clearly one of them, "a serial entrepreneur," is how one who has worked closely with him charitably describes him. He is one of those who are not afraid to take risks, with a volcanic character far from the politically correct, ready for gut decisions and instant choices, much to the peace of mind of collaborators, accustomed to outbursts and strokes of genius. Even today, every single bag or shoe from Prada goes through his hands at the bright Tuscan headquarters in Valvigna: he designs it, touches it, smells it, checks every detail and, after going over it with the Lady, if he is convinced, he approves it. From that moment, in no time, it goes into production, as I will discover by visiting the labs where craftsmen in ice-white lab coats with the Prada logo invent new products."

"He has taken the concept of vertical integration to the extreme, raised the excellence of industrial quality production, and transformed his passion into a team capable of competing for the oldest trophy in the world of sports."

"⁠Two visionaries find themselves, inevitably, dealing with the most difficult of transitions: taking a company that exploded thanks to the elective affinity of two never-banal minds to compete independently in an increasingly polarized sector around the global luxury giants, while at the same time maintaining their own diversity and originality. Miuccia Prada, the heir to the family brand, and Patrizio Bertelli, her husband.⁠"

""Trying to know what it means to be someone else is perhaps the most interesting thing in the world. It is one of the reasons that drives me to write books, in addition to the desire to discover what it means to be oneself. I mainly deal with what it means to be me. Perhaps excessively." EMMANUEL CARRÈRE, Yoga"

"⁠She has dismantled the prevailing aesthetic standards in the world of fashion, introduced disturbing concepts, uprooted clichés, created a new stylistic language for emancipated, free women, transformed an industrial material into a cult object, captured the spirit of the times and put it on the catwalk.⁠"

"Although the family brand was known and recognized for its traditional and austere elegance, Miu Miu enhances its transgressive aspect, which can be glimpsed in some of the early Prada brothers' bags from the 1920s, shown to me in the archives of the Group hidden in the basement of the Milan headquarters."

""It struck me from the first moment: it was so exciting because it brought something completely new to the runway, really strong but at the same time simple," designer Marc Jacobs tells me. "The materials were perfect, the proportions were perfect, the shapes simple but very seductive," he adds, after confessing his boundless admiration for Miuccia."

"Miuccia's production diversifies thanks to the use of original materials and unexpected combinations. By elevating a nylon backpack to a cult object, she makes her first indelible mark. And then she goes further: from bags to shoes and clothes, the step is short, especially if you have beside you a fiery and brilliant entrepreneurial partner, with whom she discusses everything, continuously."

"Prada and, especially, Miu Miu – born in 1993 to satisfy Miuccia's rebellious soul – are the most sought after in the first quarter of 2024 by consumers all over the world, the "hottest brands" of the Lyst index, a global fashion search engine. These are two brands that will withstand during the first months of the luxury crisis induced by the collapse of purchases in China. What's so special about them? Is there a substantial difference from other luxury brands? Is there any truth to it, or am I facing yet another marketing hoax?"

"The truth is that Miuccia is different, light years ahead of many other fashionable designers, say her closest collaborators, who have built an almost symbiotic relationship with the Lady, jealously guarding her privacy and sharing her ideas."

"Prada wants to believe in its own future and is working to transform a company shaped around Miuccia and Bertelli into a group capable of remaining independent with its brands, Church’s and Car Shoe, in addition to Prada and Miu Miu, as well as the Marchesi patisserie. The time I met him, to my question whether he wanted to sell, Bertelli, interviewed for Bloomberg, replied indignantly: "I have never sold anything! I still have the bicycle that my uncle left me." That day, in 2021, demonstrating how much he thought about succession, Bertelli candidly admitted that his eldest son Lorenzo would take over the reins of the Group."

""It's about freedom, about representing oneself," Miuccia Prada argues in an interview with Vogue Italia. "We should be able to be who we choose to be, always.""

""I don't like the idea of escaping from the world. Lightening the gloom of the times, yes, but I want to live in the present," explains Miuccia surrounded by a jungle of journalists, curious people, fashionistas, and clients in the hangar of her Foundation."

"I feel bewildered as if I were at Prada Marfa, a reconstructed store in the middle of the Texas desert, the pop-architectural installation by Elmgreen & Dragset on Route 90 near Valentine, in the deepest States."

"Prada enters the fashion world as a true outsider."

"Miuccia is one of the three richest women in Italy. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Lady and Bertelli have a personal fortune of about 7 billion dollars each, built in less than fifty years, with an exponential acceleration after the listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2011."

"The future becomes the present and it promises to be very, very different from what I would have expected in the eighties. It's hard to dream too much these days. Easier to have nightmares. Yet these are our times, I have no intention of not fully living them."

"The new billionaires feel the need to be "reassured" about their status and they do it by flaunting the luxury goods of the most iconic brands, as explained by Bernstein financial analyst Luca Solca."

"There’s one in particular that conveys how avant-garde Fratelli Prada was: it’s a black handbag with a white ivory clasp shaped like a human face that mocks you. It's the face of a Japanese warrior sticking out his tongue. The bag is so modern that it is reproduced for the Spring-Summer 2024 collection, exactly one hundred and ten years after its original creation, readapting its materials."

"Yet up close, she is a shy lady, petite, with a contagious laugh, surrounded by friends with whom she questions the meaning of things, the future of society, and the role of art. She is super chic without ever being flashy, uses her work to send signals and provocations, and her Foundation to produce food for the mind, especially for the younger ones."

"The coming years will be decisive in shaping the entrepreneurial future of our country; the patriarchs of family capitalism are inevitably forced to hand over control due to age reasons, and the activities they have created are often a direct expression of their personalities: drawing their future, once the founders are no longer there, risks becoming a matter of life or death. Not to mention the scale. Size does matter, indeed. The "small is beautiful" no longer exists, and in our country, in many sectors - luxury and fashion being among the main ones - we do not have companies capable of competing in size with the world leaders."

"Moreover, after the first order in 1918, Prada can boast of having entered among the official suppliers to the royal household. The year after the opening on Via Manzoni also comes the consecration from the Savoias: the King of Italy formally grants, as read in the parchment signed January 25, 1922, the possibility of using the royal emblem in the logo, along with the wording "Patent of the Royal House". It is an important recognition that changes the history of the Group and is also reported in the columns of Corriere della Sera: "His Majesty the King has granted the patent of the Royal House to the Fratelli Prada company of Milan, with a store on Via Manzoni 19. This is a new title of honor for the Prada brothers, who have distinguished themselves in their trade of luggage and luxury goods in a special way, bringing their company to the height of the leading Italian houses of the kind.""

"My curiosity is driven by the fact that, to tell how Miuccia and Bertelli transformed a shop in the center of Milan into one of the most desired luxury brands globally – with almost fifteen thousand employees, twenty-six factories, and over six hundred stores in seventy countries – one must start from the beginning, from the passion of the founding grandfather, the progenitor of the Prada brand, and from the Milan in which he decided to produce and sell products for the elite, sought-after, precious, unique."

""The dialogue," as Miuccia says in Pradasphere, the volume derived from the exhibition which represented the timeline of the Prada world, "creates authenticity." The lady believes in confrontation, whether it's about fashion, business, or art and their Foundation."

"Over a hundred years have passed, yet their request has not lost its relevance. It is incredible how, in some way, we still find ourselves in the same situation: Italian groups, recognized for the quality of their luxury products, struggling to compete with the big global players in the sector, and the lack of a national hub that has never been successfully established in the land of bell towers, where, as we have seen, several families have preferred to sell to the French of the moment, rather than allying with the neighboring house and warehouse."

"Just turn the page and I arrive at the section dedicated to the Prada brothers' firm, and here I read: “A house of long experience and commercial seriousness is that founded by Mario and Martino Prada in 1913 in former Principe Umberto Street, corner of Cavour Square. Keeping up with the modern evolution of the city, within six years the activity organized by the founders created such a volume of business that their name became known to all. Such development required more suitable locations which they first set up on Manzoni Street and then reorganized in 1922 in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.""

"Upon the founder's death, it was the daughters Luisa, Miuccia's mother, and Nanda, the aunt who would formally adopt the three grandchildren to allow them to pass on the Prada surname, who took over the store. Father Gino was never among those involved in the business."

"The shop becomes famous precisely for the trunks, being the exclusive importer in Milan of those from the Hartmann firm. The American suitcases of the Hartmann Trunk Company, from Racine in Wisconsin, represent excellence in the field."

"He has taken the concept of vertical integration to the extreme, raised the excellence of industrial quality production, and transformed his passion into a team capable of competing for the oldest trophy in the world of sports."

"He is also credited with the spread of saffiano leather, which has become so iconic that it represents a sort of trademark for the Milanese house."

""I always tell all the girls: 'If you do just one thing in your life, let it be to earn your own money.' Because how can you be free if you don't earn your own money?" she recounts in a 2018 interview with Harper’s Bazaar Art, where she gives a glimpse of her relationship with her family. "It's something that has stayed in my mind since I was young, because I realized that if I did something she liked, my mother would give me money, otherwise not.""

"On every ship, the Hartmann wardrobe, reads an advertisement from the twenties. On every ship, the Hartmann wardrobe. They are travel trunks for the upper class, inside they are rich in compartments and drawers. A part is dedicated to hangers for hanging clothes."

"Mario was maniacally engaged in the search for fabrics and leathers. Leather, for example, is bought from the best European suppliers."

"Prada introduces its "patented foldable suitcase," which closes into itself becoming completely flat and easily transportable. "It is made of the highest resistance waterproof velvety fabric. Leather trimmings, weight 1100 g." "Essential for everyone," it costs 100 lire. It is equipped with two special handles that become iconic for the company, so much so that they go down in history as the "patent handles.""

"In terms of objects of desire, Mario Prada's shop is abundant: sticks in gold and malacca, tortoise and ivory or in galuscia, bottles in crystal and tortoise. Then there are the famous trunks and suitcases, bags made from sought-after leather: snake, but also walrus or alligator, and there are also porcelains and silverware, including those for travel. The Prada nécessaire trunks become a must for the European upper middle class in the years before World War II. They are equipped with pieces of ivory, silver, and precious colored Bohemian crystal."

"She has dismantled the prevailing aesthetic standards in the world of fashion, introduced disturbing concepts, uprooted clichés, created a new stylistic language for emancipated, free women, transformed an industrial material into a cult object, captured the spirit of the times and put it on the catwalk."

"The battle plan is simple and impactful: Ray-Ban ventures into prescription glasses to fill the void left by Re Giorgio's frames. New significant licenses are secured, Versace and Prada in 2003 being the most significant. It works. Luxottica recovers quickly."

"Ray-Ban, like Persol and dozens of the most famous luxury brands from Armani to Prada, is part of the lines produced by Luxottica under the careful guidance of an entrepreneur who, if he had been born in New York, would fully represent the American dream of the self-made man."

"The major shareholder of Mediobanca, at the core of Generali and UniCredit, the major investor of Covivio, a European real estate leader, engaged with Prada in the redevelopment of the former railway yard to create the Olympic village of Milan-Cortina 2026. A way to diversify his fortune into financial investments, which generally offer a higher return than manufacturing ones, but also the possibility of directly influencing the choices of the main Italian financial institutions, to which he has not spared criticism."

"The glasses of Kennedy and Tom Cruise Leonardo will end up buying them all, at the end of a decade in which everything he touches turns into gold. The company expands its portfolio of licenses with luxury brands, designer glasses become the main part of the business in the sector. In rapid succession, agreements were signed for Yves Saint Laurent in 1991, then Brooks Brothers, Sergio Tacchini, Emporio Armani, Bulgari, and Ferragamo in 1998, Chanel in 1999, Prada and Versace in 2003, after the divorce from Armani. But Leonardo is not satisfied with just licenses. If he sees an opportunity, he opens the door and buys."

"H&M begins to hire so-called supermodels, exclusive photo models with the same aura as movie stars. And with equally high fees. Instead of Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, these women will now showcase H&M's low-cost fashion. And it will be light clothing for Christmas."

"Together with the head of her family office, she hosts a video conference with a small circle of managers and investors who gather whenever concrete superlatives beckon. The most important, René Benko, is connected from Austria. He wants to convince Alannah of himself and his business partner Tos Chirathivat, who has sent a representative. With a member of one of the economically most powerful family clans in Thailand, he already manages several luxury department stores like KaDeWe in Berlin or Alsterhaus in Hamburg: huge cathedrals for brand believers whose religions are named Gucci, Prada, or Saint Laurent. Although he is not the bidder with the highest offer, Benko tells Ms. Weston, but he is the one with the best intentions. His strategy: best owner instead of best bidder."