Miuccia Bianchi Prada (; born Maria Bianchi on 10 May 1949) is an Italian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the head designer of

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...

and the founder of its subsidiary

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy. Silvia Onofri is its CEO. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 ...

. As of October 2021, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated her net worth at US$4.8 billion. In August 2021, ''Bloomberg'' estimated her net worth to be $6.6 billion, ranking 430th in the world. The youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, Miuccia Prada took over the family-owned

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a more significant proportion of ove ...

manufacturer in 1978. Since then, the company has acquired

Jil Sander Heidemarie Jiline "Jil" Sander (; born 27 November 1943) is a German minimalist fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander (brand), Jil Sander fashion house. Early life and education Heidemarie Jiline Sander was born in Wesselburen on 2 ...

, Helmut Lang and shoemaker Church & Co. In 2002, Prada opened her own

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

museum. In March 2013, Prada was named one of the fifty best dressed over-50s by ''Forbes''. The magazine listed her as the 75th most powerful woman in the world in 2014, when she had an estimated net worth of $11.1 billion.

Early life and education

Born Maria Bianchi on 10 May 1949 in Milan, she took the name Miuccia Prada in the 1980s, after being adopted by an aunt. Her biological parents were Luigi Bianchi and Luisa Prada. She has two older siblings, Albert and Marina. After attending Liceo Classico Berchet high school in Milan, Prada went to the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

where she graduated with a degree in political science in 1971, while on the same time studying acting at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. In 1978, she subsequently obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the same university.

Career

Early beginnings

Prada trained at the Teatro Piccolo to become a

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

and performed for five years. She was a member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

and was involved in the

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

movement during the seventies in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Career at Prada

By the mid-Seventies, Susannah Frankel (February 21, 2004)
Miuccia Prada: The feeling is Miuccia
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 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 1978 she met her future husband and business partner, Patrizio Bertelli. Prada's first successful

handbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. It has also been called a pocketbook in parts of the U.S. Terminology The term "purse" originally referred to a smal ...

design was in 1985. It was a line of black, finely-woven

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

handbags. By 1989, she designed and introduced her first women's

ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear (RTW)also called ''prêt-à-porter'', or off-the-rack or off-the-peg in casual useis the term for garments sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a partic ...

collection. In 1995, she launched her first

menswear Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

line. The

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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...

s. She had already been exhibiting at

Milan Fashion Week Milan Fashion Week () is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. Upcoming autumn/winter fashions are showcased in February/March of each year, and upcoming spring/summer fashions are showcased in September/October of each year ...

. 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,

, and

Azzedine Alaïa Azzedine Alaïa (; , ; 26 February 1935 – 18 November 2017) was a Tunisian couturier and shoe designer. He became globally known particularly beginning in the 1980s for his women's dresses and he would dress numerous celebrities throughout his ...

. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was unveiled in a sequence of short films directed by artists including

Martine Syms Martine Syms (born 1988) is an American artist residing in Los Angeles, specializing in various mediums including publishing, video, installation, and performance. Her artistic endeavors revolve around themes of identity, particularly the repre ...

and Juergen Teller.Lauren Indvik (December 4, 2020)
Miuccia Prada on breaking the luxury machine
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. She has since been sharing that responsibility with Raf Simons.

Other activities

In 2010, Prada designed costumes for the

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

opera "

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

" at the New York City Metropolitan Opera House.

Business philosophy

Prada deliberately avoids merging

high art In a society, high culture encompasses cultural objects of aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers representative of its cultur ...

with fashion: "Art is for expressing ideas and for expressing a vision. My job is to sell."

Recognition

Awards and honours

Exhibitions

Along with designer

Elsa Schiaparelli Elsa Schiaparelli ( , , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian fashion designer from an Italian nobility, aristocratic background. She created the Schiaparelli (fashion house), house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she ...

, Prada was the subject of the 2012 exhibition, "Impossible Conversations" at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Controversy

In early 2014, Prada and Patrizio Bertelli were put under investigation as part of a tax avoidance probe by Milan prosecutors. By 2016, both paid more than 400 million euros ($429 million) to settle their tax positions.

Personal life

Prada is married to Patrizio Bertelli, a businessman. Their two sons were born in 1988 and 1990, the elder being rally driver Lorenzo Bertelli. The couple lives in the apartment where she was born. Prada is a collector of contemporary art and owns several artworks by

Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Golds ...

. She is friends with the artists

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

and Francesco Vezzoli. Over several years, Prada acted as a godmother to a Luna Rossa boat nine times.

Honour

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (21 December 2015)

References

External links

* *
Women in Fashion biography
from ''Time magazine''
Miuccia Bianchi PradaMiuccia Prada biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prada, Miuccia 1949 births Living people Fashion designers from Milan 21st-century Italian businesswomen 21st-century Italian businesspeople Italian women fashion designers Italian fashion designers Female billionaires Italian art collectors Women art collectors Italian billionaires Italian communists Italian women's rights activists Italian mimes University of Milan alumni Prada 20th-century Italian businesswomen 20th-century Italian businesspeople Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic