Prada brand was founded in Milan in 1913 by brothers Mario and Martino Prada. The fashion house originally was called Fratelli Prada, and opened a handbags, luxury travel accessories boutique in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. Thanks to the high quality of the products, the boutique became a point of reference for the purchases of the bourgeois and European aristocracy, and in 1919 became the official supplier of the Real House of Savoy.
None of the male sons of Mario wanted to take part in the company, so his daughter Luisa entered the company and, after the death of her father in 1958, became the owner.
Later in 1971 another woman, Miuccia, Luisa's daughter, entered Prda becoming her owner in 1978.
Miuccia was a talented, ingenious, and determined, but inexperienced in the economic and managerial field. For this reason she signed an agreement with Patizio Bertelli, a company associate one year earlier and the owner of the company I pellettieri d'Italia (IPI), an active company in the leather market.
The marriage was perfect, combining the sensibility and imagination of the designer with Bertelli's great entrepreneurial skills, so that in 2003 the IPI was incorporated into the Prada brand. The synergy was so complete that it also coaxed the private side of the two entrepreneurs who made their wedding in 1987.
In 1988 there was the first catwalk; in 1993 Miuccia Prada launched the Miù Miù line, with which she expressed a more feminine side and a taste that took the mark also towards a younger audience.In the same year was launched the Prada Man Collection and, subsequently, in 1993, the Prada Sport line.
In 1999 the group acquired the historic English Church's footwear brand. Another important step of the brand began in 2000 when Prada became the official sponsor of Luna Rossa, the sailboat participating in the America's Cup: sailing not only was a great passion for patron Bertelli but also a great stage, which found some elements in the brand DNA, such as technology, and experimentation. The Luna Rossa sportswear collection, including sneakers, dates back to the time, which attract a great audience success and become an icon.
