1913
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Mario Prada opened the first shop in Milan’s Galleria. Travel goods and finely made accessories established the business before its later expansion into fashion.
The House & Its Designers
Prada
Milan · 1913
A leather-goods house that challenged what luxury should look like.
Prada’s history runs from a Milan luggage shop to a design practice that questions familiar ideas of taste. Nylon, Saffiano leather and the triangle plaque connect its practical objects to that larger conversation.
21 photographs · Reviewed August 2026
Explore the history ↓
01 / The house
The story behind the name.
1970s–1980s
Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli
Their partnership combined design with industrial organisation. Nylon bags and the first women’s ready-to-wear collection challenged expectations of a traditional luxury house.
The bags
Utility and formality
The nylon backpack and structured leather bags represent different parts of the same vocabulary. Prada repeatedly moves between functional materials and the conventions of dressed-up accessories.
2020
A shared creative direction
Raf Simons joined Miuccia Prada as co-creative director. Their partnership made an ongoing exchange of ideas part of the house’s design process.
02 / The designers
The people who shaped the house.
Selected creative chapters; dates distinguish appointments from runway debuts.
Founder
Mario Prada
Established the original Milan leather-goods shop.
Design leadership
Miuccia Prada
Reconsidered luxury through unexpected materials, references and proportions.
Co-creative direction from 2020
Miuccia Prada & Raf Simons
Develop the collections through a shared design conversation.
On the runway
Selected looks and details, matched to the house and season.
Prada · Spring 2003 Ready To Wear
Prada · Spring 2024 Ready To Wear
Prada · Fall 2024 Ready To Wear
03 / The bags
A vocabulary in leather and form.
A selection of the house’s designs. Resale photographs illustrate individual examples; size, finish and condition vary.
01
Galleria (Saffiano)
A structured double-handle bag associated with crosshatched Saffiano leather.
02
Re-Edition 2000
A compact zip-top shoulder bag that revisits the house’s nylon accessories.
03
Cleo
A curved, sculptural shoulder bag with a short handle and smooth surface.
04
Sidonie
A rounded flap shoulder bag with curved leather panels and bold hardware.
05
Saffiano Lux Tote
A structured leather tote with the fine crosshatched surface of Saffiano.
06
Wicker / Crochet
Seasonal bags that translate familiar Prada forms into open, textured materials.
07
Double Bag
A structured tote with a contrasting interior and organised compartments.
More designs to know
- Re-Nylon
- A material-led collection spanning practical nylon shoulder bags, totes and backpacks.
- Cahier
- Book-like metal corners and a strap closure shape this structured flap bag.
- Inside Bag
- An inner bag becomes a visible part of the outer bag’s construction.
- Re-Edition 1995
- A sharply rectangular top-handle bag that revisits a 1990s design.