A brief history of Prada 

It’s been 13 years since this Prada store popped up in Texas, and yet not a single purchase has been made. Walk up to the glass front and you’ll see that the doors have been sealed shut, there are no staff, and the shoe and bag displays are gathering dust. So why did a Prada store end up in the middle of nowhere? Created in 2005 by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, the Prada Marfa store is a sculpture-cum-landmark, sat just outside of Valentine (population of around 134), Texas. Built from clay stone with the signature Prada-logoed awnings, it wouldn’t look out of place in any major shopping district from Milan to Tokyo. Yet, when isolated – displaying luxury handbags to nothing but tumbleweed in the eerie quiet – it feels like an alien spaceship has crash-landed in the barren landscape. It initially began as a project with no affiliation with the brand itself at all, but as Dragset told Dazed Digital, “we realised it would be important to the project to get in touch with them”. He went on to say, “They were very nice; Miuccia herself selected things that were really cleverly chosen in sandy colours because it’s the middle of the Texan desert.” Beyoncé ‘grammed herself leaping in front of the store a while back, solidifying its status as a must-visit – if you ever find yourself in the middle of nowhere, that is.  

Sometimes, fashion should just be good fun – right? There was a light-heartedness to the spring/summer 2010 show that renders it one of our all-time favourites; where playfulness meets power dressing, or, as Prada put it herself, “business to beach”. The show opened with a line-up of grey angular jackets and suits (that would make any boardroom meeting fun, we’d wager), followed up with our personal favourites – a selection of crystal-studded, chandelier-style baby-doll dresses. Cocktail, anyone?

For us, spring/summer 11’s Prada show encapsulates exactly what makes the brand so admired. More design references than you can shake a stick at (baroque cherubs, hospital gowns and jazz legend Josephine Baker, to name but a few), intense colour combinations, conversation-starter accessories and a touch of kitsch (hello, bold banana print), all add up to an iconic catwalk collection in our book. Tim Blanks of Vogue Runway reported, “Miuccia’s message was crystal clear. As she said backstage, banana earrings vibrating, ’It’s time to be bold.’ And that’s one maxim that, with any luck, will rub off on the world at large.”

Beauty dream duo Pat McGrath and Guido Palau created a make-up and hair look for Prada’s autumn/winter 2013 show that was (and still continues to be) a lazy girl’s dream. Soaking wet hair, combined with a smudgy, imperfect smattering of matte-grey eyeshadow and berry lip stain added a bit of intrigue (and romance, perhaps – kissing in the rain?) to this film-noir inspired collection of belted overcoats and 40s-style pencil dresses. This particular beauty look is also a very handy excuse when turning up at work having been caught in a downpour sans umbrella, or smudging your make-up while running for the bus. Because, duh – we’re referencing Prada AW13. Obviously...

For spring/summer 2018, Prada shifted gears and took on a combative approach to women’s dressing. Mrs Prada put it best in Vogue Runway: “It’s especially for women, because there’s so much against us, still.” Miuccia Prada referenced several female artists – including the late Tarpé Mills (aka comic book creator June Mills), who was the first woman to create a female superhero (aptly named Miss Fury) – in the collection and the catwalk set, which was decked out with graphic cartoon illustrations. The catwalk was a direct and empowering reaction to the current political climate in the US; the line-up of rough-edged sleeveless blazers, prim dresses layered over tailored (but unfinished) trousers, and sharp pointed collars representing an unapologetically feminine woman with feistiness coursing through her veins.