PRADA!

THE START!:

The company was begun by in Italy by Fratelli Prada ( English: Prada Brothers ) and by Mario Prada in 1913 as a leathergoods shop in Milan, Italy. Not only was his shop a purveyor of leathergoods, but also sold imported English steamer trunks and handbags. Fratelli Prada gained great reputation. Mario Prada did not believe in women interaction within business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his workshop. After his death in the mid-1950s, Mario's son harbored no interest in the business. So ironically, it was Mario's daughter-in-law who took the helm of Prada, and maintained it for almost twenty years. Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970. Miuccia began making waterproof backbacks out of Pocone. She met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leathergoods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon on.He greatly advised Miuccia -- and she readily followed the advice -- on better decisions for the Prada company. It was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to begin to revolutionize the oldfashioned luggage styles.


RUNWAY:

Prada, along with fellow fashion houses Calvin Klein and Gucci, is known for its practice of casting new models to walk exclusively in their runway shows. Usually, one of the models chosen as an exclusive will be selected to open the Prada show. An exclusive or opening spot in a Prada show is among the most coveted bookings in the modeling world, since it usually leads to greater success in future seasons, as well as in the campaign/editorial field. Previous Prada exclusives and openers who have gone on to enjoy success in the fashion world include Daria Werbowy, Gemma Ward, Suvi Koponen and Sasha Pivovarova, who went on to appear in Prada's ad campaigns for six consecutive seasons after opening the Prada Fall 2005 runway show.


FAMOUS IN FILMS TOO!:

The Devil Wears Prada is a 2003 novel about a ruthless, short tempered boss who is the renowned editor-in-chief of Runway (a fictional version of Vogue) and wears designer clothes, such as Prada and Hermès. Its 2006 film adaptation stars Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
An American metalcore band also took the name The Devil Wears Prada.
In 2005, near the West Texas towns of Valentine and Marfa, a pair of Scandinavian 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 and realized with the assistance of American architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello. To the dismay of potential shoppers the doors are sealed shut