Career at Prada
By the mid-Seventies,[15] 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.[15] In 1978, she met her future husband and business partner, Patrizio Bertelli.[15]
Prada's first successful handbag design was in 1985. It was a line of black, finely-woven nylon handbags. By 1989, she designed and introduced her first women's ready-to-wear collection.[16] 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.[17]
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.[18]
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.[19] She has since been sharing that responsibility with Raf Simons.[19]
In 2025, Prada received recognition at the Fashion Trust Arabia Awards.[20]
