Miuccia Prada: A Woman Who built Fashion Empire.
By – Anant Kumar
We love iconic luxury brands and don’t get much more luxurious than Italian fashion house Prada, created by Mario and his brother Martino Prada in 1913 as a leather goods shop. Prada has expanded into more than 618 boutiques globally. Prada was taken care of by Luis Prada and her daughter Miuccia Prada. Today, we will know the success story of Miuccia Prada.
Introduction
Full name Miuccia Bianchi Prada is an Italian billionaire fashion designer co-CEO of Fashion empire Prada. She has also the owned subsidiary Miu Miu. Currently, her total new net worth is $5B and has been ranked 945th Billionaires in the world as per Forbes. She runs the business with her husband Patrizio Bertelli. In 2017, She holds the title 73rd most influential woman in the world.
Her early life and education.
Miuccia Prada was born on 10th May 1949 in Milan. She was being adopted by one of her aunts. Her biological parents were Luigi Bianchi and Luisa Prada. Miuccia has two siblings, Albert and Marina. She holds an undergraduate degree from Liceo Classico Berchet high school and went to the University of Milan to study political science.
Early Careers and Journey
Miuccia spent five years training and performing as a mime. She was also a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). During the seventies, she was involved in the women’s rights movement in Milan. Her major journey begun in the fashion world when she joined Prada.
In 1913, Miuccia’s grandfather opened a shop as a leather goods shop. Mario and Marino were selling animal goods and importing English steamer trunks and handbags. Mario Prada had a different thought about women, who didn’t want to involve women in the bossiness. Ironically, his son harboured was not interested at all in the business, so Mario’s daughter Luisa Prada took the helm of Prada. After running around 20 years, Miuccia Prada joined the company.
The company truly began to evolve in 1977 when she started making waterproof backpacks out of nylon’s fabric. She met with Patrizio Bertelli, who ran a luxury leather company at the time. However, soon he started working with Miuccia. In 1978, Prada was inherited by Miuccia, same year Prada’s sales were around $450,000 with Bertelli alongside her as business manager.
By implementing great creativity, she introduced the first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of tough military spec black nylon. However, that was not an instant success because it was hard to sell due to lack of ad.
Prada opened a second boutique in the centre of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele back in 1983. In the same year, the expansion begun internationally, she opened stores in Europe and the USA in prominent locations. In 1985, Prada launched the “Classic Prada Handbag” which became very popular overnight.
In the 1990s, Prada was recognized as one of the most influential fashion houses, and the brand got a premium status symbol. In 1992, she founded a high fashion brand named Miu Miu, it was created keeping in mind the younger consumers like celebrates. In the middle of the 1990s, Prada introduced men’s ready-to-wear collections. 1995 as winning award designers of the years, Prada opened a store at the 18,000 ft in Manhattan in 1996, New York. By now, the Prada brand was operating stores in 40 locations globally.
In 2000, Skincare product in units does were introduced in many countries like the USA, Japan, and Europe. Over the past following years, Prada exhibited her collections in both New York and London fashion weeks. This fashion house has fully-fledged into a conglomerate that includes labels, such as Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, and Azzedine Alaia. Currently, the company produced and sells leather goods, fragrances, and apparel for men and women.
Few Important Awards and Recognitions.
- Miuccia Prada was awarded VHI (Fashion Award for Womenswear Designer of the years) in 1995, 1996, and 1998.
- Miuccia won CFDA with an international award in 2004.
- She was appointed “Officier dans Ordre des Arts et des Letters” by the French Ministry of Culture.
- In 2013, she received an award called the first international designer of the year at the British Fashion Awards.
- In 2015, she holds the highest honorary title of the order of merit of the republic.
- In 2016, she got the Glamour USA’s Woman of the Year Award.
Few words from her mouth:
“What you wear is how you present Yourself to the world, especially today when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.”
“I always Loved Aesthetics Not Particularly Fashion but an Idea of Beauty.”
“It’s horrible when people are only interested in buying labels because it doesn’t bring them happiness, they think it will.”
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