Prada Quiz

Prada: A Luxury Fashion House

• Prada is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan in 1913 by Mario Prada.
• The company specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories.
• Prada licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear and L’Oréal for fragrances.
• Initially, the shop sold animal goods, imported English steamer trunks, and handbags.
• Miuccia Prada, Mario's granddaughter, succeeded him and ran Prada for almost 20 years.
• Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocono, a nylon fabric, and met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, who eventually joined the company as a business manager.
• Prada's popularity increased in the 1990s, attributed to its "working-class" theme which became chic in the high-tech, IPO-driven era.
• In 1992, Miu Miu, named after Miuccia's nickname, launched.
• Prada purchased 51% of Helmut Lang's company for US$40 million and full control of Jil Sander A.G. for US$105 million.
• In 2019, the company announced that fur would be eliminated from the collection and all house brands as of 2020.
• In February 2020, Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli named the Belgian designer Raf Simons as co-creative director.
• In August 2020, the fashion house announced it would no longer use kangaroo leather in its products.Prada: History, Boutiques, Other Activities, Prada in Popular Culture, Arts and Architecture, Environmental Sustainability, Controversies

History:

• Prada was appointed as the Official Supplier to the Italian Royal Household in 1919.
• Prada has commissioned architects like Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron to design flagship stores in different locations.
• Prada opened its first store in Milan in 1913 and started retail expansion in 1983.
• Prada opened a duplex megastore in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
• Prada opened its largest ever boutique in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates in 2012.

Boutiques:

• Prada has flagship stores in different locations designed by Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron.
• Prada opened its first store in Milan in 1913.
• Prada's retail expansion began in 1983 with new boutiques in Milan, New York, Madrid, London, Paris, and Tokyo.
• Prada has more boutiques in New York City, China, and Japan.

Other activities:

• Prada designed costumes for the CGI film Appleseed Ex Machina in 2007.
• Prada launched its fragrance in 2004 in collaboration with the Puig company.
• Prada produced mobile phones with LG Electronics in 2007.
• Prada started production of watches in 2007 and suspended it in 2012.

Prada in popular culture:

• Prada is featured in the film 10 Things I Hate About You and The Devil Wears Prada.
• Prada was the inspiration for Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada.

Arts and architecture:

• Prada's Milan Headquarters are located in a former industrial space between via Bergamo and Via Fogazzaro.
• Prada's New York City Headquarters open in 2002 and are located in a former Times Square piano factory renovated by the Herzog & de Meuron architecture firm.
• Prada commissioned an unusual multi-purpose building from Rem Koolhaas's OMA group called the Prada Transformer in Seoul in 2009.
• Prada opened a permanent home for Fondazione Prada in Milan in 2015.

Environmental sustainability:

• Prada allied with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 2019 to introduce an 'educational program' called SEA BEYOND about sea preservation.

Controversies:

• Prada was involved in the Prada Female Discrimination Case in 2009.
• Prada is the main buyer from the Turkish leather factory DESA, which was found guilty by the Turkish Supreme Court of illegally dismissing workers who joined a union.
• Prada was criticized for using ostrich leather in its products in 2015.
• Prada was forced to pull a new range of accessories and displays from its stores in 2018 following complaints that they featured "blackface imagery."
• Prada was investigated by Italian prosecutors for possible tax evasion in 2014.