Questions about the Milan house founded in 1913, from Miuccia Prada’s nylon backpack to her partnership with Raf Simons, answered from a decade of Ayerhs Prada reviews.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 31 October 2026
On this page: The house and its founder · The designers · The collections · Codes and business · The Ayerhs view
The house and its founder
Who founded Prada, and when?
Mario Prada opened a leather goods shop in Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in 1913, selling luggage, bags and accessories to wealthy travellers. The fashion house most people know today was built by his granddaughter, Miuccia Prada, who took over the family company in 1978.
Who is Miuccia Prada?
The designer who turned a heritage leather brand into one of the most influential houses in fashion. She has a doctorate in political science, trained as a mime and came to fashion with no formal design training. With her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, who ran the business, she launched the nylon backpack (1984), womenswear (1988) and Miu Miu (1993).
Read on Ayerhs: 10 legendary Prada collections by Miuccia Prada · 50 Greatest Fashion Designers of All Time
What is Prada’s “ugly chic”?
The name critics gave Prada’s Spring 1996 collection, built on clashing retro prints in drab colours, and since used for her whole approach: making deliberately awkward colours, proportions and fabrics look desirable. It is Prada’s way of questioning what counts as beautiful, a theme Ayerhs found again in Fall 2025.
Read on Ayerhs: 90s Prada: The Best Ever · Prada Fall 2025: What even is beautiful?
The designers
Who designs Prada now?
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, as co-creative directors. Simons, the Belgian designer who led Jil Sander, Dior and Calvin Klein, joined in 2020; their first joint collection was Spring 2021. They share design of both womenswear and menswear.
Read on Ayerhs: Prada Fall 2021: Celebrating Duality · Spring 2022
What is the difference between Prada and Miu Miu?
Both are designed by Miuccia Prada, but Miu Miu, named after her family nickname and launched in 1993, is younger and more playful: girlish, preppy and deliberately undone. Prada is the more intellectual, grown-up line. Miu Miu shows in Paris; Prada shows in Milan.
Read on Ayerhs: Miu Miu Fall 2026 · Miu Miu Spring 2026
The collections
What are the most iconic Prada collections?
- Spring 1996, ugly chic. The collection that named an aesthetic. 90s Prada
- Spring 2011. Bananas, stripes and baroque colour, a 1920s holiday on acid. Review
- Fall 2016. The vagabond woman: sailors, corsets and layered travel. Review
- Fall 2018. Neon and nostalgia. Review
Read on Ayerhs: 10 legendary Prada collections
Where can I read about every recent Prada show?
Ayerhs has reviewed nearly every Prada Spring show from 2015 to 2026 and most Fall shows from 2016 to 2026, in sequence. Recent highlights: Spring 2025’s modular clothes, Spring 2026’s familiar shapes made intellectual, and Fall 2026’s wardrobe that transforms over the course of a day.
Read on Ayerhs: Spring 2015 · Spring 2025 · Spring 2026 · Fall 2026
Codes and business
What are Prada’s signature codes?
- The triangle logo, the enamelled plaque on bags and clothes.
- Black nylon, industrial fabric made luxurious since the 1984 backpack.
- Saffiano leather, the cross-hatched leather of Prada bags.
- Uniforms and ugliness: school, office and workwear clothes made strange and desirable.
Who owns Prada?
The Prada Group, controlled by the Prada and Bertelli families and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 2011. It owns Prada, Miu Miu and Church’s, and bought Versace in 2025, making it one of the few large Italian luxury groups still run by its founding family.
Read on Ayerhs: The Rise of Fashion Conglomerates · Versace in The Library
The Ayerhs view
Why does Prada still matter?
Because it keeps asking questions other houses avoid. Prada rarely shows spectacle for its own sake; it takes familiar clothes and makes you look at them again, with intellect and emotion. A decade of reviews at Ayerhs shows how consistent that is, season after season.