01NEARLY EVERY FASHION HOUSE IS BUILT AROUND ONE NAME, ONE VISION,
ONE EGO. PRADA RUNS ON TWO. SINCE 2020, MIUCCIA PRADA AND RAF
SIMONS HAVE SHARED THE CREATIVE DIRECTION EQUALLY, TWO OF THE
SHARPEST MINDS IN FASHION, DELIBERATELY REFUSING TO WORK ALONE.
02IT SOUNDS IMPOSSIBLE, AND THAT IS THE POINT. THEY CALL IT A
CHALLENGE TO THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE SOLO GENIUS DESIGNER. EVERY
PRADA COLLECTION SINCE SPRING 2021 IS ARGUED OUT BETWEEN THEM, A
REAL DIALOGUE, NOT ONE NAME SIGNING OFF ANOTHER'S WORK.
03MIUCCIA PRADA IS FASHION'S GREAT INTELLECTUAL. SHE TOOK THE FAMILY
LEATHER BUSINESS AND TURNED IT INTO A LABORATORY FOR IDEAS,
PIONEERING 'UGLY CHIC': DELIBERATELY AWKWARD COLOURS, NYLON OVER
SILK, THE UNPRETTY MADE DESIRABLE. SHE MADE THINKING FASHIONABLE.
04RAF SIMONS CAME FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION. A BELGIAN MINIMALIST AND
YOUTH-CULTURE OBSESSIVE, HE RESHAPED MENSWEAR, THEN RAN JIL
SANDER, DIOR AND CALVIN KLEIN. PRADA HIRED HIM YEARS EARLIER TO LEAD
JIL SANDER, SO THIS PARTNERSHIP WAS DECADES IN THE MAKING.
05TOGETHER THEY SAND EACH OTHER'S EDGES. HER INTELLECT AND ODDITY,
HIS RIGOUR AND YOUTH-CULT COOL, ARGUING TOWARD CLOTHES NEITHER
WOULD MAKE ALONE. A GENUINE EXPERIMENT IN SHARED AUTHORSHIP, AT
ONE OF THE FEW HOUSES BIG ENOUGH TO RISK IT.
06THAT IS WHY IT FASCINATES. IN AN INDUSTRY THAT SELLS THE MYTH OF
THE LONE VISIONARY, PRADA BET THAT TWO VISIONARIES, IN CONSTANT
ARGUMENT, MAKE SHARPER WORK THAN ONE ALONE. SO FAR, THE
COLLECTIONS KEEP PROVING THE BET RIGHT.