Prada Sunglasses

The company was started by Fratelli Prada (English: Prada Brothers) and by Mario Prada as a leathergoods shop in Milan, Italy.

His shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks and handbags. Fratelli Prada gained reputation.

Mario Prada did not believe in women interaction within business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his workshop.

Mario's son harbored no interest in the business. So ironically, it was Mario's daughter-in-law who took the helm of Prada and did it for almost twenty years.

Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970. Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone.[

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 on.

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

Prada Ascent into High Fashion

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.

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 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.[3] Miuccia released the classic Prada handbag in 1985, that went on to become an overnight sensation. It was practical and fashionable, functional and sturdy.

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.

Time described the apparel as "unassertive, combining traditional good manners and an ultramodern industrial sleekness."

Truly, the designs to come out of the House of Prada reflected the feminine worker aesthetic, which made it quite unique in contrast to other high-fashion brands.

It would be identified with affluent working women who held demanding jobs. Thus, it is no surprise that Miuccia took it upon herself to call her women's bags "uniforms.

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

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

Prada, along with Calvin Klein and Gucci, is known for the practice of casting new models to walk exclusively in their runway shows. Usually, one of the models chosen as an exclusive will open a Prada show.

An exclusive or opening spot in a Prada show is among the most coveted bookings in the modeling world. Previous Prada exclusives and openers who have gone on to success in the fashion world include 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. Light Havana	Prada. Woman
Prada. Man. Gray-Gradient	Prada. Man. Gray metal frame
Men's Prada. Light Havana metal frame	Men's Prada sun silver and gray metal frame