the fashion brand that came about all through the magic and power of ceaseless struggle it almost ceased to exist until one woman came around mario prada and his brother martina founded prada as a leather good store in 1914 when leather was in fashion in northern italy the shop sold leather products imported english steamer trunks and handbags among other leather goods the company was titled preterly prada which stands for prada brothers initially humble prada's fortunes changed swiftly when he was named the official supplier of the italian royal house in 1919 prada was able to use the house of savoy coat of arms and knotted rope motif in their trademark emblem as a result of this important honour prada is an emblem of the italian aristocracy because of this accolade prada's past becomes much more fascinating mario prada did not believe that women should work outside the home because of the patriarchal culture of the time he did not hire any of his female relatives to work for him his only son ironically was uninterested in entering the family business [Music] entering the 1950s with mario prada's moratorium on women joining the family business the company started to struggle eventually luisa prada one of his daughters took the helm in 1958 after there was no one else to take control following the death of mario prada the same year luisa had a daughter named maria bianchi was born into a wealthy household as the second of three children luigi gino bianchi the father was the owner of a putting green mower firm maria began her career as a politician earning a phd in political science from the university of milan in 1973 where her ideas shifted toward feminism and left-wing politics she joined the italian communist party distributing flies at rallies on a regular basis and studied mime for roughly five years at milan's teatro piccolo in 1970 she joined the prada family firm changed her name and became the manager of one of the company's two remaining boutiques in 1978 she took over as ceo of the company which has fallen to just one store at that time and engaged patricio bertelli an italian leather goods producer with whom she had met the previous year at a trade show where he was selling fratelli prada knockoffs as her principal supplier despite the fact that her qualifications didn't appear to be adequate her sense of style was undeniable at the time the label was still primarily a leather goods maker and had been experiencing financial difficulty for years other fashion brands such as gucci had taken their toll known now as muchia prada changed the course of the house of prada steering it towards the world of oatkachu prada is one of the few female fashion designers who has influenced her women dress muchia married patricio bertelli around the same time that she took over the prada label but telly assumed the job of business manager leaving new chief to concentrate on the design and refinement of the new prada aesthetic mutier have been creating black waterproof backpacks out of a nylon fabric known as pakuni since 1970. she introduced the traditional prada handbag which was simple sleek and made of black nylon and it became an instant hit in 1985. the bag was useful and fashionable as well as utilitarian and robust due to the high price tag of the handbags a flood of designer knockoffs flooded the market this simply served to increase demand for real product designer goods sales of the pcorner handbags soared possibly due to their resemblance to the more expensive leather chanel handbags that were soon carried by the fashion elite including actress and fashion model jerry hall in 1979 the company added footwear to its increasing product portfolio its debut women's shoe line was positively appreciated the company grew and became more well-known prada expanded its direct owned retail network into new markets throughout the world the establishments were recognized for their clean style as well as the distinctive green colour of their walls the colour was dubbed brighter green in milan's via del spiger the first green stool opened following it there were boutiques in london madrid tokyo and paris you may know that other labels created designs that played on sexuality in the 1980s fashionable with frilly lace brightly colored clothing with a low cut on top and a shortcut at the bottom in the 1980s other labels introduced designs that were based on sexuality frilly lacy brightly colored apparel with a low cut on top and a shortcut at the bottom was fashionable prada then presented its predaporte collection on the runway in 1989.
the winners are simple elegant goods with clean lines luxurious fabrics and basic colors furthermore the fashion industry took notice and proudest designer items grew in popularity in 1988 prada introduced its first ready-to-wear collection to critical acclaim which featured nylon parkers that provided customers with durability without losing design muchia prada's progressive values were often reflected in her creations which had an understated beauty and refined elegance that contrasted sharply with many of the brand's competitors over sex appeal causing a re-evaluation of femininity and designing the industry cliche that sex sells to produce a tasteful aesthetic that flatters the physique while maintaining modesty sumptuous fabrics and exquisite tailoring were combined with clean straightforward lines and subdued basic colors prada's image of casual luxury grabbed on the end of a decade of excess and the brand swiftly became identified with confident intellectual and affluent working women prada began to grow the brand further in the early 1990s creating a perfume line and other spin-off garment lines including mew-mew in 1992 prada milanote later renamed the prada foundation a non-profit organization committed to the assistance of diverse up-and-coming modern designers including architects and artists it was also formed in 1993 by mute chia prada and bertelli prada created a menswear line in the same year and in 1995 she received international acclaim when hollywood actress uma thurman wore one of her gowns to the academy awards ceremony establishing the company as an international status symbol prada and betelli formally consolidated their activities in 1996 to become proper bv later renamed prada espio a holding company for the prouder group of companies while bertelli served as its ceo prior to sport a sports brand later renamed lenairosa was also launched prada and patelli began a string of high-profile purchases in 1999 including the helmet lang and yiel sander fashion houses as well as stakes in fashion companies like fendi transforming the prada group into a multi-million dollar fashion empire the prada aesthetic has developed throughout the 1990s and mute chia is credited with several fabric and design advancements she experimented with new and distinctive fabric combinations and added anything from mirror pieces to beaded latex to her clothes despite all of this experimenting the quality of the final product has remained constant [Music] the prada group's annual revenue has risen to more than one billion dollars by the early 21st century however the group was saddled with a similar amount of debt prompting prada and vitelli to begin liquidating or selling their acquisitions such as the helmet lang and fendi stakes mentioned earlier prada was also supposed to go public on september the 8th 2001 but the 911 attacks postponed plans indefinitely in 2003 the company made 1. 4 billion u. s in sales profits increased by 33 percent to 38 million u.
s in that year prada and its competitors had to contend with both low-cost chinese items and low-quality knock-offs while other european companies have responded by shifting production to china and other low-wage economies prada has kept all of its shoes belts handbags clothes and other things manufactured in italy the prada spring summer 2009 ready to wear fashion show which took place on september 23 2008 with milan received widespread attention due to the fact that all of the models on the runway were teetering older viewers may even remember this event as it made international headlines some of them stumbled and two models collapsed in front of the photographers requiring assistance from onlookers to get up to continue their stroll they took off their shoes during the finale walk one model cigarette agreement had to stop and turn around because she couldn't walk in her high heels any longer this was proud of his first major hiccup publicly miuccia prada on the other hand blamed the silk tiny socks within the shoes which was slippery and moved around inside the shoes presenting the model's feet from having a proper hold on the sole muchia prada also stated that the heels on the shoes offered in stores would be lower those shoes were never sold in the end after trying to go public for a decade the brand was finally listed on the hong kong stock exchange on june 24 2011 in order to raise 2. 14 billion dollars however it fell short of expectations according to aap and bloomberg on june the 7th 2011. prada had a turnover of 3.
7 billion dollars in 2015 up one percent from 2014 but a gross operating profit of 995 million dollars down 16. 5 percent prior to sales began to improve march 2018 after decreasing since 2014 and the company stock rose 14 on that announcement things have been on the up and up since then as the company was further strengthened by the enlistment of famous belgium designer raf simmons ralph simmons future move has been a hot topic in the fashion world since his departure from calvin klein in 2018.
