This month Prada have launched a tome that documents, comprehensively collates and celebrates the brand’s expansive array of projects – from the brand’s relatively modest Milan-based beginnings through to the major, international, cross-disciplinary projects of recent years.
Spanning an impressive 708 pages, the opulent, double-bound book – which comes coated in a version of Prada’s signature Saffiano leather - documents the span of the brand’s creative undertakings - ranging from the clothes, shoes and bags upon which Prada has made its name, through to the architecture, artistic patronage, curation and industrial design of recent years.
Opening with a brief, foldout history of the brand, the book is divided into two sections. Documenting in detail the fundamental endeavours which take place behind closed doors at Prada HQ – from pattern cutting to architectural planning - the ‘Inside’ section features an intricate photographic essay from longtime Prada collaborator, Brigitte Lacombe.
The second section titled ‘Outside’ chronicles in greater detail the span of Prada’s extra-curricular creative projects: from last year’s Double Club with Carsten Holler and the groundbreaking transformer project in Seoul, through to the recently renovated Prada Fondazione’s philanthropic exhibitions and a filmic collaboration with renowned director Ridley Scott.
It is the creative collaborations highlighted in the book, which offer the most incisive insight into Prada’s approach to cross-disciplinary commingling. With longtime creative partners including Rem Koolhaas and OMA, Herzog & de Meuron and every fashion editor worth his and her salt – alongside a presence in every corner of the globe - Prada’s new bible is a sumptuous, printed affirmation of the brand's inimitable creative status.
Launched with suitably well-appointed flair in Milan earlier this month, the book was sent out into London last night at the Bond Street store - alongside events staged at the OMA-designed Prada epicenters in Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York.
Plans for the Fondazione Prada, which is bi-annually transformed for Prada's seasonal outings, chapter 3.01, p.143
Designed by Rem Koolhaas and his OMA thinktank, the show plans become more and more elaborate with each passing year, chapter 3.01, p.155
A floral theme dominates at one of the Fondazione shows chapter 3.01, p.146
A series of bags from previous Prada collections, chapter 4.04
Leathers and skins dominate in this accessories display, chapter 4.04, P.246-7
Prada bags, chapter 4.04, P.242-3
A double-page display of Prada’s distinctive green store interiors chapter 5.01, P.410-11
An interior shot of the OMA-designed New York Epicentre, chapter 5.05, p.432-3
The ramp at the New York Epicentre, chapter 5.05, p.440-1
Caged mannequins take centre stage at the New York Epicentre, chapter 5.05, p.442-3
Wood and steel finishes in the Los Angeles Epicentre, chapter 5.08, p.468-9
The glass and steel façade of the OMA-designed Tokyo Epicentre stands out from its urban surrounds, chapter 5.07, 462-3
A still from the collaborative film between Miuccia Prada and Ridley Scott, Thunder Perfect Mind
Miuccia Prada on the set of Thunder Perfect Mind, chapter 6.01, p.480-481
The Prada Transformer stands in marked contrast to the Gyeonghuigung Palace in Seoul, chapter 8.03, p.595
A cinema takes residence within Rem Koolhaas's Prada Transformer earlier this year chapter 8.03, p.600-1
The circular surface of the multi-faceted transformer shines out into the Seoul night, chapter 8.03, p.594
On Otto by Tobias Rehberger at the Fondazione Prada, p.650-1
The collaboration between Carsten Holler and Prada - the Double Club set up shop in North London for 6 months earlier this year, p.656-657
The steadily increasing stack of publications from the Fondazione Prada, p.669
A rendering of the new and improved Fondazione Prada, p.677-8
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