Early beginnings Prada trained at the
Teatro Piccolo to become a
mime artist and performed for five years. She was a member of the
Italian Communist Party and was involved in the
women's rights movement during the seventies in
Milan.
Career at Prada By the mid-Seventies, Prada entered into her family's business of manufacturing luxury leather bags, a company established by her grandfather in 1913. She initially oversaw the design of accessories. In 1995, she launched her first
menswear line. The
Miu Miu line was introduced in 1992 as a less expensive womenswear line inspired by her personal wardrobe. She named it after her own nickname, Miu Miu. In 1994, Prada showed her collections in both
New York and
London Fashion Weeks. She had already been exhibiting at
Milan Fashion Week. Bertelli, Prada's husband, is responsible for the commercial side of products and Prada's retail strategy. The design house has grown into a conglomerate that includes labels such as
Helmut Lang,
Jil Sander, and
Azzedine Alaïa. The company has expanded into leather goods, shoes, fragrances, and apparel for both men and women. As of 2014, Prada is the co-CEO of Prada, together with her husband. In 2020, Prada presented her final collection as the brand's sole creative director; because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, it was unveiled in a sequence of short films directed by artists including
Martine Syms and
Juergen Teller. She has since been sharing that responsibility with
Raf Simons.
Other activities In 2010, Prada designed costumes for the
Verdi opera "
Attila" at the New York City
Metropolitan Opera House. ==Business philosophy==