This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (June 2010)

Prada

Type	Public (SEHK: 1913)
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1913
Founder(s)	Mario Prada
Headquarters	Milan, Italy
Number of locations	Over 250 Worldwide boutiques
Key people	Miuccia Prada, Head Designer Patrizio Bertelli, CEO Sebastian Suhl, SVP & CCO Donatello Galli, CFO
Products	Luxury goods
Revenue	€2.15 billion (2010)
Employees	2,841 (2011)
Website	www.prada.com

A Prada shop in Rome, Italy.

Prada S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpɾaːda]) is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women (ready-to-wear, leather accessories, shoes, luggage and hats), founded in 1913 by Mario Prada.

History[link]

Foundations[link]

The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a leathergoods shop – Fratelli Prada (English: Prada Brothers) – in Milan, Italy.^[1][2] Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks and handbags.

Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his company. Ironically, Mario's son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisa Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor, and ran it for almost twenty years. Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over for her mother in 1978.

Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone.^[1] She met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leathergoods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia—and she followed the advice—on better decisions for the Prada company. It was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage styles.

Development of Prada[link]

Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to U.S. $450,000. With Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity onto design.^[1] She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the house of Prada that would change it.^[1]

She released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, but the lines would go on to become her first commercial hit.

Next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. In 1983, Prada opened a second boutique in Milan reminiscent to the original shop, but with a sleek and modern contrast to it. It was opened in the shopping district of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

The next year, Prada released its definitive black nylon tote. That same year, the house of Prada began expansion across continental Europe by opening locations in prominent shopping districts within Florence, Paris, Madrid, and New York City. A shoe line was also released in 1984. In 1985, Miuccia released the "classic Prada handbag" that became an overnight sensation. Although practical and sturdy, its sleek lines and craftsmanship exuded an offhand aura of luxury that has become the Prada signature.

In 1987, Miuccia and Bertelli married. Prada launched its women's ready-to-wear collection in 1989, and the designs came to be known for their dropped waistlines and narrow belts. Prada's popularity skyrocketed when the fashion world took notice of its clean lines, opulent fabrics, and basic colors.

The logo for the label was not as obvious a design element as those on bags from other prominent luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton. It tried to market its lack of prestigious appeal, including the apparel, was its image of "anti-status" or "reverse snobbery."

1990s[link]

Prada's originality made it one of the most influential fashion houses,^[1] and the brand became a premium status symbol in the 1990s.

Sales were reported at L 70 billion, or US$31.7 million, in 1998. Partrizio di Marco took charge of the growing business in the United States after working for the house in Asia. He was successful in having the Prada bags prominently displayed in department stores, so that they could become a hit with fashion editors. Prada's continued success was attributed to its "working-class" theme which, Ginia Bellafante at the New York Times Magazine proclaimed, "was becoming chic in the high-tech, IPO-driven early 1990s." Furthermore, now husband and wife, Miuccia and Bertelli led the Prada label on a cautious expansion, making products hard to come by.

In 1992, the high fashion brand Miu Miu, named after Miuccia's nickname, launched. Miu Miu catered to younger consumers, such as celebrities. By 1993 Prada was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America award for accessories.^[1]

Men's ready-to-wear collections were launched in the mid-1990s. By 1994, sales were at US$210 million, with clothing sales accounting for 20% (expected to double in 1995). Prada won another award from the CFDA, in 1995 as a "designer of the year" 1996 witnessed the opening of the 18,000 ft² Prada boutique in Manhattan, New York, the largest in the chain at the time. By now the House of Prada operated in 40 locations worldwide, 20 of which were in Japan. The company owned eight factories and subcontracted work from 84 other manufacturers in Italy. Miuccia's Prada and Bertelli company were merged to create Prapar B.V. in 1996. The name, however, was later changed to Prada B.V. and Patrizio Bertelli was named Chief Executive Officer of the Prada luxury company.

In 1997, Prada posted the revenue at US$674 million. Another store in Milan opened that same year. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bertelli smashed the windows of the store a day before the opening, after he had become deeply unsatisfied with the set-up. Prada also acquired shares in the Gucci group, and later blamed Gucci for "aping his wife's designs." In June 1998, Bertelli gained 9.5% interests at US$260 million. Analysts began to speculate that he was attempting a take over of the Gucci group. The proposition seemed unlikely, however, because Prada was at the time still a small company and was in debt. Funding Universe states that "At the very least, Prada had a voice as one of Gucci's largest shareholders (a 10 percent holding would be required for the right to request a seat on the board) and would stand to profit tidily should anyone try to take over Gucci." However, Bertelli sold his shares to Moët-Hennessy • Louis Vuitton chairman Bernard Arnault in January 1998 for a profit of US$140 million. Arnault was in fact attempting a take over of Gucci. LVMH had been purchasing fashion companies for a while and already owned Dior, Givenchy, and other luxury brands. Gucci, however, managed to fend him off by selling a 45$stake to industrialist François Pinault, for US$3 billion. In 1998, the first Prada menswear boutique opened in Los Angeles.

Prada was determined to hold a leading portfolio of luxury brands, like the Gucci group and LVMH. Prada purchased 51% of Helmut Lang's company based in New York for US$40 million in March 1999. Lang's company was worth about US$100 million. Months later, Prada paid US$105 million to have full control of Jil Sander A.G., a German-based company with annual revenue of US$100 million. The purchase gained Prada a foothold in Germany, and months later Jil Sander resigned as chairwoman of her namesake company. Church & Company, an English shoes maker, also came under the control of Prada, when Prada bought 83% of the company at US$170 million. A joint venture between Prada and the De Rigo group was also formed that year to produce Prada eyewear. In October 1999, Prada joined with LVMH and beat Gucci to buy a 51% stake in the Rome-based Fendi S.p.A. Prada's share of the purchase (25.5%) was worth US$241.5 million out of the reported US$520 million total paid by both Prada and LVMH. Prada took on debts of Fendi, as the latter company was not doing well financially.

These acquisitions elevated Prada to the top of the luxury goods market in Europe. Revenue tripled from that of 1996, to L 2 trillion. Despite apparent success, the company was still in debt.

A new look into the 21st century[link]

The company's merger and purchasing sprees slowed in the 2000s. However, the company signed a loose agreement with Azzedine Alaia. Skin care products in unit doses were introduced in the United States, Japan and Europe in 2000. A 30-day supply of cleansing lotion was marketed at the retail price of US$100. To help pay off debts of over US$850 million, the company planned on listing 30% of the company on the Milan Stock Exchange in June 2001. However, the offering slowed down after a decline in spending on luxury goods in the United States and Japan. In 2001, under the pressure of his bankers, Bertelli sold all of Prada's 25.5% share in Fendi to LVMH. The sale raised only US$295 million.

By 2006, the Helmut Lang, Amy Fairclough, and Jil Sander labels were sold. Jil Sander was sold to the private equity firm Change Capital Partners, which was headed by Luc Vandevelde, the chairman of Carrefour, while the Helmut Lang label is now owned by Japanese fashion company Link Theory. Prada is still recovering from the Fendi debt. More recently, a 45% stake of the Church & Company brand has been sold to Equinox.

According to Fortune, Betelli plans on increasing revenue of the company to US$5 billion by 2010.

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. The Clean Clothes Campaign, a labor rights organization based in Europe, has called on Prada to ensure that freedom of association is respected at the factory.^[3]

The brand has been listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2011 which raised about $2.14 billion.^[4][5]

On December 16, 2011 Prada's stock has lost 32 percent from its July 27, 2011 record, worse than Hang Seng Index as a benchmark which has lost 19 percent in the same period. Prada gets more than 42 percent of sales from Asia, mainly China which dropped 32 percent from their July peak. "The golden time, or the high-growth period, for many luxurious goods retailers is probably over." According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, China will grow 8.5 percent in 2012, the lowest pace in 11 years.^[6]

Businesses today[link]

This section appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (June 2010)

Runway shows[link]

Previous Prada exclusives and openers who have gone on to success in the fashion world include unknown models and actors who work for cheap or for free including the still unknown Daria Werbowy, Gemma Ward, Suvi Koponen and Sasha Pivovarova, who went on to appear in Prada's ad campaigns for six consecutive seasons after opening the Prada fall 2005 runway show.

Prada boutiques[link]

The Prada boutique at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy.

Prada has commissioned architects, most notably Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron, to design flagship stores in various locations. A duplex megastore was opened in Kuala Lumpur at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur in late 2008. Prada commissioned an unusual multi-purpose building called the Prada Transformer in Seoul. And 2009 saw the opening of a new store on Corso Venezia, Milan, designed by architect Robert Baciocchi, focussing on the Prada Made to Order collection.^[7]

Perfumes[link]

• PRADA for women, 2003
• Tendre for women, 2006
• PRADA pour Homme for men, 2006
• Benjoin (Essence exclusive N°9) for women, 2007
• Infusion d'Iris for women, 2007
• Infusion d'Homme for men, 2008
• L'eau ambrée for women, 2009
• Prada Amber for men, 2011
• Prada Candy for women, 2011.

LG Prada mobile phone[link]

In May 2007, Prada began producing mobile phones with LG Electronics. Three mobile phones resulted from this collaboration: LG Prada (KE850), LG Prada II (KF900) and LG Prada 3.0.

Controversies[link]

In March 2010 Prada was sued by a former manager of a Prada store for discrimination and harassment; she claimed that when she was a manager her superior asked her to fire 15 employees who were "old, fat, disgusting or did not have the Prada look."^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Prada is main sponsor of sailing team Luna Rossa – Luna Rossa Challenge

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prada

v t e High-heeled footwear Shoes Court shoe Mule Peep-toe shoe Platform shoe Slingback Boots Ballet boot Beatle boot Cowboy boot Fashion boot Kinky boots Knee-high boot Platform boot Thigh-high boots Winklepickers Types of heel Clear heels Kitten heel Spool heel Stiletto heel Wedge heel People and brands ALDO Group Manolo Blahnik Jimmy Choo Kenneth Cole Patrick Cox Terry de Havilland Salvatore Ferragamo Maud Frizon Cole Haan Hush Puppies Charles Jourdan Beth Levine Christian Louboutin Steve Madden Bruno Magli Nine West Beatrix Ong Prada Sergio Rossi Yotam Solomon United Nude Roger Vivier Stuart Weitzman Giuseppe Zanotti

Daria Werbowy
Daria Werbowy, 2008
Born	Daria Werbowy (1983-11-19) November 19, 1983 (age 28) Kraków, Poland
Years active	2002–
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Measurements	34-24-34 (86-61-86)[1]
Dress size	4
Manager	IMG Models

Daria Werbowy (Ukrainian: Дарія Вербова, Dariya Verbova; born November 19, 1983) is a Ukrainian Canadian model. She is perhaps best known as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand Lancôme.

Personal life[link]

Although born in Kraków, Poland,^[2] Werbowy holds both Canadian and Ukrainian citizenship.^[3] When she was three years old, Werbowy's Ukrainian parents moved to Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[2] She has a brother named Orest and sister Oksana. At age fourteen, Werbowy was 5'11", willowy and sporting braces. She attended St. Sofia Ukrainian Catholic Elementary School and Cawthra Park Secondary School as a visual arts student.

Werbowy has been romantically linked to Josh Hartnett.^[4]

She is an avid sailor and spent three months in 2008 sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.^[5][6] In 2011, she embarked on a two-month expedition from Guatemala, travelling around Central America to Costa Rica.^[7]

Professional career[link]

Werbowy had never seriously considered modeling, but found herself launched into the business after meeting a schoolmate's mother who headed Toronto's Susan J. Model & Talent Management. At age 14, Werbowy won a national modelling contest.^[2]

After switching to Elite Model Management, Werbowy landed several prominent bookings in Canada but achieved little international success. Werbowy lived in London and Greece, where she did not find much work. Her first runway season was disrupted and her bookings canceled after the 9/11 attacks in New York City.^[5] After a disappointing eight months, Werbowy returned to Canada. She gave modeling a final shot as a means to fund her art school education.^[5] "I returned to New York, met my agent and the next day I had an exclusive deal with Prada. From then on it was all a bit of a blur."^[5]

When the Elite Canada's head scout, Elmer Olsen, started his own agency, Werbowy followed and her career began to flourish. Within a few years, and under the guidance of International Management Group (IMG), Werbowy gained a foothold on the international modelling stage.

Though she relinquished the world's No.1 runway model status to new "it girls", Werbowy holds the record for opening and closing the most shows in one season.^[8] To date, Werbowy's clients have included Lancôme, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Pepe Jeans, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Hermès, Valentino, David Yurman, Missoni, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Oroton and Chanel. In her first season, Fall/Winter 2003, Werbowy captured two of the modeling world's most coveted assignments: the cover of Vogue Italia, thrice (in July, August and October), and Prada's Fall/Winter ad campaign.^[8]

Photographed by Steven Meisel, she was presented on the September 2004 cover of American Vogue as one of the "Models of the Moment".^[9] In July 2007, Forbes listed Werbowy as the ninth highest-earning model in the world after Karolina Kurkova, Natalia Vodianova, Carolyn Murphy, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Heidi Klum, Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen. Her earnings between June 2006 and June 2007 were in the order of $3.5 million.

On September 6, 2008, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.^[10] She is the second Canadian model, after Linda Evangelista, to have a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.^[11] Earlier that year, Werbowy launched a three-piece makeup collection by Lancôme for Sephora.^[12] The proceeds went to the Vik Muniz charity Centrao Especial for underprivileged youth in Brazil. Werbowy was one of the faces on one of the fourteen covers of V magazine September 2008 issue. Each cover boasts a head shot of a famous model, either from the new crop of leading models (Agyness Deyn, Lara Stone, Natasha Poly, Anja Rubik, etc.) or the supermodel era (Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova). The covers were photographed by duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.^[13]

Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.^[14]

Werbowy has had conflicted feelings about her professional life. In the September 2008 issue of Fashion Magazine she was quoted as saying:

"I've had a lot of mixed feelings about what I do ... A lot of the time, I feel like I'm part of the problem when it comes to all the superficiality and vanity that impacts the way girls grow up". ^[15]

Werbowy was photographed alongside Lara Stone and Isabeli Fontana in the 2009 edition of the Pirelli Calendar photographed by Peter Beard and was also featured in the 2011 edition photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.^[16]

She ranked No. 6 on Forbes' "The World's Top-Earning Models" list, with estimated earnings of $4.5 million between May 2010 and May 2011.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daria Werbowy

• Daria Werbowy at the Fashion Model Directory
• Daria Werbowy at New York Mag
• Daria Werbowy's IMG card

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009)

Steven Meisel (born 1954) is an American photographer, who obtained popular acclaim with his work in US and Italian Vogue and his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book Sex. He is now considered one of the most successful fashion photographers in the industry, shooting regularly for both US and Italian Vogue, and lately W (also published by Condé Nast).

Early life[link]

He was born in 1954. His fascination for beauty and models started at a young age. At that time Meisel would not play with toys, but would instead draw women all the time. He used to turn to magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar as sources of inspiration for his drawings. Meisel dreamt of women from the high society like Gloria Guinness and Babe Paley, who personified to his eyes the ideas of beauty and high society. Other icons were his mother and his sister.

As he became obsessed with models such as Twiggy, Veruschka, and Jean Shrimpton, at 12 years old he asked some girlfriends to call model agencies and, by pretending to be secretaries of Richard Avedon, to get pictures of the models. To meet famous model Twiggy, the 12-year-old Meisel stood outside waiting for her at Melvin Sokolsky's studio.

He studied at the High School of Art and Design and Parsons The New School for Design where he attended different courses but, as affirmed in an interview with Ingrid Sischy for Vogue France, he finally majored in fashion illustration.

Career[link]

One of Meisel's first jobs was to work for fashion designer Halston as an illustrator. He also taught illustration part-time at Parsons. Meisel never thought he could become a photographer. He admired photographers like Jerry Schatzberg, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Bert Stern. He felt that illustration was a thing of the past and found photography as a lasting medium. Later on, while working at Women's Wear Daily as an illustrator, he went to Elite Model Management where two girls working there allowed him take pictures of some of their models. He would photograph them in his apartment in Gramercy Park or on the street: on weekdays he would work at Women's Wear Daily and on weekends with the models. One of them was Phoebe Cates. Some of these models took their pictures to Seventeen magazine to show their model books and the people at Seventeen subsequently called Meisel and asked if he wanted to work with them.

Meisel currently works for many different fashion magazines, including US and Italian Vogue, in which he has photographed every cover for two decades. His studio is located in New York City at 64 Wooster Street but he often rents the studios at Pier59 in New York and Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles.

Meisel has contributed photos for the covers of several popular albums and singles, including two RIAA Diamond-certified albums, Madonna's 1984 album "Like a Virgin" and Mariah Carey's 1995 album Daydream. His work also can be seen on the cover of Madonna's single "Bad Girl" (a nude), the limited picture disc for Madonna's UK single release of "Fever" (a partial nude), and Mariah Carey's single "Fantasy" (simply a different crop of the photo on the cover of the Daydream album).

Fashion campaigns[link]

Amongst others, Meisel has shot campaigns for Versace, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein (for whom his campaigns were very controversial). Meisel also shoots Prada campaigns each season — having done so since 2004. In April 2008 he shot friend Madonna for Vanity Fair, and later in the year he shot her for the 2009 spring campaign by Louis Vuitton at Splashlight's Skylight Studio.

He is a close friend of designer Anna Sui for whom he also shot several campaigns, even though Sui rarely uses advertising to promote her clothing. He also works closely with digital artist Pascal Dangin.

Influence[link]

As one of the most powerful photographers in the fashion industry, Meisel is credited with "discovering" or promoting the careers of many successful models, including top models Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Kristen McMenamy, Amber Valletta, Snejana Onopka, Viktoriya Sasonkina, Iris Strubegger, Lara Stone, Coco Rocha, Caroline Trentini, Liya Kebede, Karen Elson, Doutzen Kroes, and Raquel Zimmerman, propelling them to fame by regularly featuring them in Vogue and various campaigns, notably Prada, considered one of the most desired campaigns in the business. Meisel's influence and training seems to also extend past models. He used his influence among the fashion elite to create an issue of Vogue that would show only black models. The issue was released in July 2008 with the purpose of addressing the racism seen lately in fashion magazines, runways, and advertising campaigns. He also launched the career of Ross Van Der Heide, a young fashion designer, by showing Ross's artwork to Anna Sui.

He launched the careers of many models and persuaded British model Karen Elson to shave her eyebrows off which earned her the nickname 'Le Freak'

Meisel has been the force behind the careers of people he regularly used on his Vogue shoots; hairstylists Oribe Canales, Garren, Orlando Pita and Guido Palau, and make-up artists François Nars, Laura Mercier, Pat McGrath and the late Kevyn Aucoin owe some of their success to the photographer.

Anna & Franca[link]

Meisel has been a protégé of both Franca Sozzani and Anna Wintour, editors-in-chief of Italian and American Vogue, respectively. For the former, he photographs the cover of every issue, something generally unheard of in the ever changing fashion industry.

Meisel often creates layouts which are controversial, by juxtaposing fashion and politics and/or social standards. For example, in the September 2006 issue of Vogue Italia, Meisel played with the concept of restricted liberties post-September 11 America, with the models portraying terrorists and highly trained policemen. It caused a stir in the press, as the models were presented in violent compositions where they could be seen as being victimized. It also elicited a negative response from feminists which saw the role of the women as being undermined by their male counterparts.

Artist Rep agency Art + Commerce represents Steven Meisel for image licensing and advertising.^[1]

Private Life[link]

Meisel is openly gay.

Meisel is notorious for rarely giving interviews or being photographed. However, in one of few cases, he was interviewed by Ingrid Sischy for Vogue Paris^{[citation needed]}. The following year, Meisel agreed to be interviewed for 032c magazine by Pierre-Alexandre de Looz. De Looz' piece, "Who is Steven Meisel?"^[2] was accompanied by a 14-page fold-out retrospective of Meisel's twenty years of covers for Vogue Italia.^[3]

Album[link]

Meisel is also one of very few famous photographers that does not have a proper book solely dedicated to his work. A book collecting some of his photographs called Steven Meisel^[4] was published by German teNeues Buchverlag in 2003 and sold out.

Further reading[link]

1. ^ http://www.artandcommerce.com/aac/C.aspx?VP=Mod_StaticPage.StaticPage_VPage&SP=home&HN=T
2. ^ de Looz, Pierre-Alexandre. Who is Steven Meisel 032c magazine (issue 16), Berlin, Winter 2008/2009
3. ^ Meisel, Steven. Vogue Italia archive 032c magazine (issue 16), Berlin, Winter 2008/2009
4. ^ Meisel, S. Steven Meisel (Broschiert) (German website), Teneues Buchverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-570-19421-3

External links[link]

• Portfolio at Art and Commerce agency