Prada

Prada was founded in Milan in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as Fratelli Prada, a leather goods shop selling luggage, handbags, and accessories in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. For its first six decades, the house remained a respected regional specialist, known for quality but operating within a limited radius of Italian fashion's established hierarchy. The transformation happened under Miuccia Prada, Mario's granddaughter, who took control of the company in 1978 after studying political science and spending years at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano as a mime artist. Her entry into fashion was counterintuitive by design. In 1984, she introduced the Pocone nylon backpack, taking a material associated with parachutes and military equipment and repurposing it under the brand's triangular enamel logo. The bag became a cultural landmark not despite its utilitarian origins but because of them. It announced a philosophy: intelligence over decoration, subversion over ornament. Miuccia's partnership with Patrizio Bertelli, who joined as CEO in the late 1970s, rebuilt the house structurally. The Prada Group now owns Miu Miu (launched 1993), Church's, and Car Shoe, and holds a stake in Marchesi 1824. In 2020, Raf Simons joined as co-creative director, bringing a conceptual tension from menswear culture that has since shaped Prada's runway identity toward a harder-edged, reference-dense aesthetic. Prada's investment in K-pop as a brand vehicle has been one of the most sustained of any European luxury house. The label appointed all seven members of ENHYPEN as ambassadors, made Karina of aespa a Global Brand Ambassador in August 2024, signed TWICE's Sana, and most recently appointed Gawon as ambassador following her appearance at the AW25 Milan show. The strategy reflects a clear reading of where luxury aspiration concentrates globally. Revenue surpassed 4.7 billion euros in 2023, with Asia Pacific accounting for roughly 40% of total retail sales.