The Prada game

The Prada autumn/winter 06 menswear collection was inspired by all things animal and game. Even its motorcycle helmet was covered in fur. Hailed by Suzy Menkes as “Prada's most powerful show “ brought a certain sense of animal magic to the Milan menswear season - even if it was the House's accessories which dominated the show, from tooled boots to throw-on animal print raincoats.

"What I had in mind was heroic and romantic - the forbidden dreams of men and boys," said Prada of her urban warriors. The clothes were as tame as the accessories were savage: slim-line coats and suits and comfy cardigans livened up with the splodgy jungle prints. Only quilted jackets and dropped-crotch pants, with bindings and openings at the ankle, seemed experimental.

But Miuccia Prada, being one step ahead of the fashion game, understands that men need clothes for the real world - but that behind man's modern ways lies a rugged warrior at heart.

Staff changes at Prada

Prada USA's chief executive Constance Darrow has handed in her resignation. On Tuesday the company released a statement thanking her for her “commitment to the brand”. Executive board member Carlo Mazzi will take over from her in the interim until a successor is named “in the near future”.

According to sources close to the development, Prada is going through some “significant corporate restructuring”, reports Fashion Wire Daily. Darrow's resignation follows the departure of several other executives, among whom Katherine Ross, Prada USA's senior vice president of public relations and communications and Johanne Shepley Siff, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Further to this, the company has appointed Armando Tolomelli director of group control and Cinzia Tito as group director of human resources.

www.prada.com
22 December 2005

Kim Basinger in new Miu Miu campaign

Kim Basinger is to be the new face of Miu Miu, Muccia Prada's fashion-forward and younger deigner label. The 51 year-old Academy award-winning actress is no stranger to modelling, and was a successful model prior to embarking on a Hollywood acting career. Basinger has been commissioned to model the spring/summer 06 collection, which will be in store early next year.

Basinger is one of the latest middle-aged female stars to be chosen by highly acclaimed fashion houses, which also include Sharon Stone, Madonna and Demi Moore. The latter two both starred in recent Versace campaigns. According to the Telegraph, Muccia was drawn to Basinger for her intellectcual sensuality. “She was also a cover girl before she became an actress, so she's no stranger to modelling.”

Prada boss criticizes analysts

Patrizio Bertelli has spoken out on his disregard for analysts' valuation methods and the incestuous relationship between finance and the fashion industry.

The president and chief executive of fashion house Prada aired his criticism at a luxury goods conference organized by The Wall Street Journal, Italian publisher Class Editori and Merrill Lynch at the Milan stock exchange. “Analysts are wrong to look just at the number,” he said. “They don't consider what's really important to building a global brand: time and history.”

Bertelli said that it is more important to concentrate on the brand's ability to enter “the collective consciousness” than on its size. To emphasize this point, he referred to a replica of a Prada store as an art installation in the Texas desert.
“A brand, when it is global, has to preserve step after step…all of the characteristics of innovation, identity, communication and quality, and do something unique and recognizable all over the world,” Bertelli said.

He deflected the subject of a possible IPO – which the company has postponed no less than four times – but speaking on the subject of the possible sale of Jil Sander, he said that he would consider it if the offer was “very, very, very good”. He added that there had been buyer interest in Helmut Lang.“We are restructuring (Jil Sander) and converting
an entrepreneurial business into an industrial one,” he said.

Prada recently created a new company, the Prada SpA Group, which encapsulates the loss-making Helmut Lang and Jil Sander businesses and a minority stake in the shoemaker Church's. Bertelli repeated that Prada is hoping to stimulate operations at Jil Sander by moving them from Germany to Italy, and also reiterated that the company has closed down production of Helmut Lang while it considers its possible sale.

Prada for H&M?

Could it be that the next designer to collaborate with retailer H&M will be Miuccia Prada? After Stella McCartney's smash hit limited collection for the high street chain, the fashion industry has been speculating wildly about who H&M will invite to guest design next.

Prada confirmed that she had been approached by H&M in an interview with fashion journalist Colin McDowell. “I think it is an interesting concept and I would love to work on an entire collection using inexpensive materials,” she said. “What I don't like is the idea of copying the main collection straight out. I think it should be treated as a whole new innovation."

The concept of a major fashion designer working together with a high street chain to design a collection is not new, but the format that H&M has introduced, with limited collections and celebrity designers like Karl Lagerfeld and McCartney, is certainly innovative in itself.

www.hm.com
1 December 2005

The Pope wears Prada

Pope Benedict XVI is nothing short of a religious-fashion icon, riding in the Popemobile with red Prada loafers under his cassock and Gucci shades. But his penchant for designer wear and a move to ditch the papal tailors who have dressed popes for more than 200 years are causing new wrinkles in the Vatican.

Benedict has favored his tailor from his days as cardinal, Alessandro Cattaneo, and the 20-year-old religious-fashion house of Raniero Mancinelli, which has provided the pope with dazzling new vestments (some with shimmering, sequinlike details).
Annibale Gammarelli, the traditional tailors who have been employed by the Vatican since 1792 were reported to have made Benedict's cassock too short, one of the main reasons he is chosing to have the garments made elsewhere.

The Vatican won't comment on papal attire, and Gammarelli denies it is getting the ax: "We are still in contact with the Holy Father. Perhaps there was only an occasional gift by some friend of the pontiff," the tailor says.

Prada foresees growth

Prada is pr ojecting its pr ofits will grow by an average of 23.5 percent a year over the next five years. Sales for the luxury Italian retailer will increase by an average of 3.2 percent annually, reaching 1.51 billion euros by 2010, according to a document Prada issued to bankers over the summer as was reported by WWD. The growth will come from increased focus on the core brands of Prada and Miu Miu, as well as labels such as Azzedine Alaïa and Car Shoe. Meanwhile, Prada has formed a new company called Prada SpA Group that excludes money-losing businesses Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and a minority interest in Church's. These operations now fall under the jurisdiction of other group holding companies.

Prada has isolated "nonstrategic brands [Jil Sander and Helmut Lang] from the core group with a view to their subsequent disposal," the document states, adding that Prada's shareholders are assessing "nonbinding offers for Jil Sander and Helmut Lang brands from various industrial partners and pr ivate equity funds." "The Prada and Miu Miu collections were met with overwhelming pr aise both by the pr ess and the trade. This pr aise is reflected in the strong orders we have received thus far this year."

However, company sources downplayed any imminent sale of Jil Sander. Prada wants to relaunch the brand under the new design leadership of Raf Simons, whose first collections will bow for fall 2006. When asked for further comment on Prada's restructuring efforts, chief executive officer Patrizio Bertelli said the following regarding Jil Sander: "The restructuring plan is on course to make the company pr ofitable on an operational basis as early as next year." "The Prada and Miu Miu collections were met with overwhelming pr aise both by the pr ess and the trade. This pr aise is reflected in the strong orders we have received thus far this year," the executive said. "It is pr oof that our efforts on pr oduct design and development, pr oduction efficiency, effectiveness of the distribution and communications are going in the right direction."

www.prada.com
31 October 2005

Prada lures Ciampi from YSL

Prada has appointed Simonetta Ciampi director of bags and accessories. The company sent a mass email in which it announced that it had lured Ciampi back from Yves Saint Laurent. This is the most recent sign of a growing struggle between Prada and the Gucci Group, who have been fighting to keep and/or lure creative talent from eachother. Ciampi left Prada four years ago to join Yves Saint Laurent as bag designer under a lucrative new contract. YSL is the Gucci Group's second biggest luxury label.

Ciampi, a Milaan-native with a degree in philosophy, has an impressive c.v. as designer of bags, shoes and knitwear at internationally renowned luxury goods companies. Before joining YSL, she worked for Prada for fifteen years.

www.prada.com
5 October 2005

Prada sculpture in Texas

Prada will soon open a store in Texas, albeit not a boutique for shoppers to purchase its minimalist ware. Rather, the new Prada store is an art instillation entiteld Prada Marfa by Berlin artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset will be installed. (Actually it will go up in Valentine, Texas, 40 kilometers, outside Marfa, a town of 2,400 that has become a magnet for artists and art lovers.) The sculpture is meant to look like a Prada store, with minimalist white stucco walls and a window display housing real Prada shoes and handbags from the fall collection. But there is no working door

The idea of the piece being born on Oct. 1 and that it will never again be maintained was part of the artist's vision. If someone were to spray-paints graffiti or a mouse or a muskrat makes a home in it, 50 years from now it will be a ruin that is a reflection of the time it was made. The piece hints at subjects to which designers are sensitive: the unchecked growth of luxury brands, the temporal relevance of fashion, retail as tourism and a culture that is devoted to buying and selling. Miuccia Prada gave the artists permission to use her trademark for the work and also picked out the shoes.

Prada Jeans

Miuccia Prada has never hid the fact that she wasn't into denim. While ever major designer has incorporated jeans looks into contemporary fashion at some stage, Miss Prada has waited to launch until this season. Prada's new denim range, available for both men and women, consist of jeans, jackets, shjirts and skirts – all fabrics are exclusive and the washing treatments unique to Prada (think printing, spray-painting, piece-dyeing, etc.)

The result is a denim that is of such extraordinary beauty that it'll change your opnion about jeans forever. At the Miu Miu men's show, Mrs Prada herself was wearing a pair. Available from Prada boutiques worldwide.

5 September 2005

Miuccia Prada: Most influential designer

Black is back, and is the official colour for winter. And when Miuccia Prada pushes a colour as strongly as she recently did in her almost entirely black, women's Autumn/Winter 2005-2006 collection, then the fashion world is sure to notice and follow in her fashionable footsteps. There is good reason to believe that the Milanese-born lady is the most influential fashion designer of our time. Last April Time magazine put her on the list of the "100 most important people in the world".

Prada has thoroughly changed today's understanding of contemporary fashion. Without Prada, people would be less brave about mixing conventional with unconventional things, combining gaudy colours or wearing artificial fibres, as if they were cashmere or silk. "Everyone who has been to one of the 165 Prada shops with their mint green walls must concede that the way many people think about clothes has changed," Time said.

Nevertheless, the fashion designer is not prone to red carpet behaviour, and doesn't live a rock & roll lifestyle like many of her contemporaries. In fact, Prada is a sceptic who sometimes calls her own profession dim-witted. It is hardly an industry that contributes to the well-being of the world, she muses.

Compared to her eccentric colleagues such as John Galliano, or Donatella Versace, she comes across as understated, demure, and of course intelligent. Still, she occasionally matches a lime green skirt with a purple top and black socks to express her sense of quirkiness and style. But the Italian with the aristocratic nose, antique earrings and long hair always seems stylish and perfectly turned out, if quirky. Prada, who met her husband (and now business partner) Patrizio Bertelli in 1978, began to develop the family's quality luggage and leather goods company into a global brand upon his insistence.

Black nylon Prada rucksacks became legendary and a must-have item in the early 1990s. Prada's 1995 wallpaper clothes, reminiscent of old shower curtains and wallpaper, were still ultra-hip. In the late 90s, the launch of Prada Sport had every respectable fashion editor and celebrity wearing the now iconic red stripe trainer. Her Milan-based company is now an empire, and the brand name can be seen in many variations, from book titles to expressions such as "Pradaism".

www.prada.com
13 August 2005

New face of Prada

Miuccia Prada has signed Sasha Pivovarova for the autumn/winter Prada campaign. The 20-year-old model appeared on the scene last February when she was exclusively booked by Prada to walk both the Prada and Miu Miu shows.

Since then she has won the coveted Prada campaign, which will be shot by Steven Meisel. Her rep at IMG said told vogue.co.uk: "Since she opened and closed the Prada campaign, the phone hasn't stopped ringing." Ladies and gentleman, we are witnessing the making of a supermodel.

www.prada.com
12 July 2005

Prada, made in China?

Made in Italy, via China, might soon be an appropriate label for Prada clothes and accessories. The Italian fashion house is considering abandoning its policy of sourcing all its clothing in Italy.

Patrizio Bertelli, Prada's chief executive, told a conference in Shanghai yesterday that he could move some production to lower-cost countries in the Mediterranean and would even consider making some products in China. "We will have to make a decision in the next few years," he said. "Even if a product is made in ten different countries, it could be defined by 'Made by Prada'."

www.prada.com
20 May 2005

Prada In Talks To Sell Helmut Lang

Prada is in talks to sell the minimalist fashion label Helmut Lang, after six loss-making years in control of the German-listed brand. The Milan-based luxury goods house is understood to be in talks with parties that include Tommy Hilfiger and Diesel, as well as private equity firms, over the sale of the brand, which has an estimated worth of up to EUR100 million (£52 million).

It comes just three months after Prada parted company with the man behind the brand, the designer Helmut Lang himself, and consolidated its hold over the company with the acquisition of his 49 per cent stake. Mr Lang's departure from the company he founded 19 years ago is understood to have been triggered by a conflict with Patrizio Bertelli, chief executive, over strategy.

The departure of the 49-year-old Austrian has prompted questions about the value of the company without its key asset. It also stoked speculation the business could be put up for sale. Prada bought a 51-per-cent stake in Helmut Lang in 1999 amid an acquisition frenzy that saw the group add half a dozen other companies to its books. After its acquisition, the brand was repositioned at the high end of the market, neglecting areas of strength such as its jeans line. Despite its promise of minimalist cool, the label failed to deliver profits. In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, sale

www.prada.com
3 May 2005

Prada on stage

Miuccia Prada has kindly lent some of her delectable designs to be worn on stage. Pieces from current and past collections can be seen on the protagonist and two male characters of the comedy "Tiny Alice," written by Edward Albee of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and directed by Abel Ferrara.

The play is currently on in Rome at the Colosseum Theatre and will run until the 8th of May.

www.prada.com
27 April 2005

Rumours circling Lang

The fashion industry is buzzing with the rumour that designer Helmut Lang is about to buy back his own label. A mere two weeks after Prada boss, Patrizio Bertelli, announced that the Helmut Lang offices in New York were to be closed by the Prada Group, he is believed to be in talks with Lang about selling him back the label.

Bertelli has told the designers, hired in the wake of Lang's departure, to hold off working for a week and to wait for further news. He has thereby placed the label in a holding pattern, according to Women's Wear Daily, causing general confusion. A source said: "No one really understands what's going on with the line. It's a decision that Bertelli and his men have to make."

The Prada Group has refused to comment. "Prada does not comment on speculation," a spokesman for the Group said.

www.prada.com
11 April 2005

Prada men's fragrance delayed

A men's scent for Italian fashion brand Prada, which was set to launch this fall, has now been delayed to arrive in spring 2006. The decision to delay the launch was taken in order "to firmly establish the Prada women's fragrance first", Puig Prestige Beauté brands president Manuel Puig tells Cosmeticnews.com.

The idea is to make a vintage-style fragrance with a very masculine leathery-ambery trail," explains Puig. "We want a product that would be surprising and at the same time would evoke the vanilla-tinged fragrances of the 50s and 60s, a fragrance in the finest tradition of perfumery and yet completely new."

11 March 2005

Prada Jeans

Miuccia Prada is been riding the denim bandwagon for a while, but now is going full-steam ahead with its jeans collection for Prada Sport. The label, which is best known for its little red strip, is, according to Miuccia, an extension of Prada and not a diffusion range. As a spokeswoman recently quipped to WWD: "Prada Sport allows the client to dress 24/7 in Prada. "It completes the Prada lifestyle."

The denim collection, which for the most part is made in Japan, features five-pocket jeans, miniskirts, shirts and basic jackets and builds upon the smaller offering shown in the current spring line. You'll have to dig deep in those five offset pockets, however, as they don't come cheap.

2 March 2005

New buyer for Miu Miu

The Italian Prada-owned fashion label Miu Miu has hired Yeda Yun as international buyers. Yun joins the label from the exclusive South Molton Street, London boutique Browns Focus, where she was head buyer for seven years.

Yun will be working for Miu Miu in Milan. Philine Dumba, head of Browns press said: "Of course we are really sorry to see her go but this is an amazing opportunity for Yeda." Her replacement at Browns should be announced within the next few days.

www.miumiu.com
25 January 2005

Helmut Lang to leave Prada Group

Prada Group is expected to announce on Monday the departure of its fashion label Helmut Lang. The New York-based designer, once associated with the epitome of urban coolness, is to follow in Jil Sanders footsteps and leave the House after the company was taken over in 1999.

According to International Herald Tribune, Mr. Lang had been at odds over a strategy to return his loss-making house to profitability - a situation that remained at a stalemate even after Prada bought out Mr. Lang's share of the business in December. Mr. Lang could not be immediately reached for comment. His staff said on Friday that he was not at his New York offices.

www.prada.com
24 January 2005

Prada in debt

Last week reports emerged that the Italian luxury clothing label Prada is suffering financially. In 2003 the company lost almost GBP 1 billion in its UK market, and also suffered plummeting sales in 2004. Turnover in 2004 dropped from GBP 24.4 million to GBP 23.5 million.

Luxury goods analysts attribute the label's troubles partially to the stock market volatility following the 11 September terrorist attacks. The label invested heavily in the UK market, including a recent, expensive refurbishment of its London store. Attempts at curbing its losses by trying once again to float the business are well documented.

www.prada.com
11 January 2005

Prada's High-Tech Misstep

Luxury retailer Prada spent millions on IT for its futuristic "epicenter" store. But the flashy technology has turned into a high-priced hassle. When the Italian fashion house opened its $40 million Manhattan flagship, hotshot architect Rem Koolhaas promised a radically new shopping experience. And he kept the promise -- though not quite according to plan. Customers were soon enduring hordes of tourists, neglected technology, and the occasional thrill of getting stuck in experimental dressing rooms.

14 December 2004

Prada Delays Flotation

The Prada Group had delayed flotation on the stock market, raising questions about the company's overall strategy. A spokesman for the Italian fashion told the New York Post the house did not rule out an offering at some point, but said the company has no plans to go public in 2005, a possibility previously suggested by Prada's chief executive, Patrizio Bertelli.

Prada has 700 million euros in convertible bonds that come due in June 2005, which are expected to be refinanced by a group of Italian banks. Prada first began flirting with the idea of a public offering in 2000, as a way to raise money to pay down debt incurred from a buying spree that saw it snap up a handful of brands, including Jil Sander and Helmut Lang.

Rocky stock markets eventually caused Prada to postpone its plan three times, before ultimately shelving the IPO in 2002. Instead, the company began selling real estate and non-core assets like a 45 percent stake in Church's to help reduce its debt. Talk has lately centered on whether Prada would step up its divestment plans by selling some of the smaller labels like Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, that seemed like trophies when they were acquired at the height of a luxury acquisition craze, but have since proved a drag on sales and profits.

www.prada.com
30 November 2004

Sander and Lang for sale

The Italian goods company Prada Holding NV might be selling its Jil Sander and Helmut Lang subsidiaries in order to improve the group's profitability.

Patrizio Bertelli, boss of Prada, said in an interview last week that he was considering selling subsidiary Jil Sander, which the company acquired in 1999. Only recently, German designer Jil Sander quit the group and her company for the second time amidst rumours of battles between Sander and Bertelli. According to Bertelli her views were not in line with the group's strategy.

Bertelli is also deliberating on selling US fashion house Helmut Lang, which it fully acquired in October of this year.

Furthermore, Prada has also revealed that it will not continue with its planned IPO next year. This is the fourth time that the group has delayed an IPO. The delay may have something to do with the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Riccardo in October. Riccardo was instrumental in the planning of this IPO. The company recently confirmed that it would go public by June next year if market conditions were favourable.

It now appears that sale of property is Prada's preferred path in raising cash in a bid to raise its level of profitability. It already sold its 45% stake in Churches in a bid to reduce company debt.

www.prada.com
30 November 2004

Prada restructuring

The board members of Prada Holding NV, the Dutch holding company of the Italian luxury goods retailer, the Prada Group, met yesterday to approve the Group's new organisational structure.

Carlo Mazzi will join the board to oversee finance, administration and control, legal matters, human resources and IT. Furthermore, Donatello Galli will join as director of adminstration and finance for the Prada Group, effective December. Tomaso Galli has been appointed director of communications and external relations for the Prada Group, effective January 2005. Galli was previously head of corporate communicatons for Gucci. He will replace Giacomo Ovidi, who has moved on to become managing director of a new company that oversees the development of the Luna Rossa brand through partnership with the Telecom Italia Group.

www.prada.com
24 November 2005

Prada Open Skirts Roadshow

Prada will inaugurate its international skirts roadshow titled "Waist Down" in November in Tokyo's Aoyama designed by Herzog & de Meuron. According to a Prada communique' skirts featured will be picked from its vast collection of skirts starting from 1988, with a strong slant on creativity. The show will be in Tokyo between November 13 until January 16, 2005.

A London date has not yet been set.

19 October 2004

Prada May Float In Near Future

Prada, the Italian luxury goods brand, increased sales by 15 per cent to 800m (GBP544m) at constant exchange rates in the seven months to the end of July, according to The Telegraph. The healthy rise in sales is likely to increase speculation that Prada will finally decide to press ahead with plans for a stock market flotation.

Speaking last week to The Sunday Telegraph, Riccardo Stilli, the group's chief financial officer, said Prada has completed the financial preparations needed for a flotation, but insisted that no decision on a listing had been taken. "As of today we do not know when and how we will go," he said.

The luxury goods company achieved double-digit sales growth across all five of its geographical regions - the Americas, the Far East, Japan, Italy and the rest of Europe. Prada has recently completed the refurbishment of its London flagship store on Old Bond Street. The revamped store is based on the design of Prada's Via Sant Andrea store in Milan.

Sales from Prada's UK outlets rose by 14 per cent to EUR17.3m (GBP11.7m) in the eight months to the end of August. Sales of Prada's ready-to-wear womenswear collection almost doubled over the eight months to August, while sales of ready-to-wear menswear ranges rose by more than 30 per cent.

27 September 2004

DIY With Prada

Prada has designed a toolkit to bring a bit of glamour to DIY enthusiasts. n a deep chocolate leather sleeve (we're going to head over and try to get some shots this weekend). That's all. It's not an ice-cube tray. It's just a toolkit. But it's a Prada toolkit. And at $700 US, it will probably cost you more than just buying a new one of whatever it is you're trying to fix.

2 August 2004

Prada LA Epicentre

The opening of the new Prada store in Los Angeles drew in the LA elite, including Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Prada's new 'epicenter', as they call it, has no door. A vast aluminium wall rises from the floor, sealing off the entrance when the store is closed. Only the price tags are likely to serve as a barrier to entry, otherwise the shop front is open to the street. The Los Angeles shop is Prada's third epicenter, the others are in New York and Tokyo. A fourth is planned for China and epicenters in Europe may follow later.

20 July 2004

Prada To Go Public

After two attempts to go public, the Prada Group is launching an initial public offer (IPO) in Milan later this year or in early 2005, Prada chief executive told Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Previous attempts were retracted due to unfavourable market conditions.

Net debt for the groups is expected to fall to less than 300 million euros (360 million dollars) this year from 675 million at the end of 2003, Bertelli said. Prada Holding posted a 33 per cent increase in profit last year to 36 million EUR, despite a 13.4 per cent decline in sales, making the total sales EUR1.36 billion.

The group, which also owns minimalist brands Helmut Lang and Jil Sander, is not planning to sell any brands after having sold 55 percent of the British shoemaker Church's to the investment group Equinox last year.

7 April 2004

Sliding Demand For Prada's Brands

The clothes do not always make the man, as recent sales figures have revealed at Italian superbrand Prada. With demand sliding for the group's Italian brands, which include Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Miu Miu, effects of Euro inflation, war and Sars have taken its toll.

The Prada group, which is controlled by a Dutch holding company, has reported revenues of EUR1.36bn (GBP908m) - or EUR1.46bn adjusted for currency movements - from EUR1.57bn the year before. But net profits rose 33 per cent to EUR36m as a result of increased efficiency.

The company, which is controlled by designer Miuccia Prada, above, and her chief executive husband Patrizio Bertelli, hope to float the company this year or next and recently restructured its finances, issuing a GBP700m bond to ease a credit crunch.

2 April 2004

Church's Sale Cuts Prada Debts

Prada's sale of 55 per cent of footwear company Church & Co to private equity group Equinox, for between GBP69.5m and GBP86.9m, will cut the fashion house's net debt down to GBP382m. Prada will sell other assets in order to cut debts to GBP208.7 by 2004.

8 December 2003

Banks Back Prada

Italian luxury brand Prada has been give the support of four Italian banks as it seeks to float within the next two years.

Meanwhile, the Italian group has announced plans to sell a 55 per cent stake in English shoe brand Church's - which it purchased recently - to the investment group Equinox in a move aimed at cutting its net debt. At the end of 2002 the debt was GBP662.6 million.

25 November 2003

Prada Robbers Jailed

The gang of robbers dubbed as the Prada Boys, who stole up to £2m in cash and jewellery during a crimewave against the rich, has been jailed.
The five men were sentenced to a total of 39-and-a-half years in prison at Harrow Crown Court in west London. The group, named after the footwear that led to their downfall, spent most nights "trawling" the West End for likely victims in expensive cars.
Those unfortunate enough to be targeted were then followed home by the knife-wielding gang and attacked. Gang mastermind Darren Mentore, 22, of Holloway, north London, whose Prada footwear gave the police the lead they needed, was jailed for nine years.

18 November 2003

'Prada Mob' Face Jail For Crime Spree

A gang of armed robbers are facing lengthy jail sentences for a GBP2 million crime wave against the rich. Nicknamed The Prada Mob after their trademark footwear, they spent most nights trawling London's West End for likely victims in expensive cars.

Altogether, dozens were followed home and attacked on their doorsteps.In the worst case, Lady Homa Alliance lost an uninsured GBP1.3 million haul of gold coins and jewellery.

Most of it was in a safe she was forced to open after being warned that for every lie she told "we will cut off a finger".

Because the gang wore gloves and masks on every job, no forensic evidence was left for police to find. In fact, apart from their modis operandi, all officers initially knew for certain was their fondness for expensive footwear.

7 November 2003

Tailor Sues Prada For Unfair Dismissal

Loved by the rich and the famous, yesterday the glossy fashion house Prada suffered a scratch to its image when a former employee accused the company of fostering a culture of fear and bullying.

John Forsbrey, formerly the head tailor of the Italian fashion house's Bond Street store, was close to tears as he spoke of the "regime of fear" that he claimed came to dominate the boutique where he worked for six years.

Mr Forsbrey, 54, said that such was the deliberate humiliation inflicted on staff that they were regularly reduced to tears. As well as being shouted and sworn at, Mr. Forsbrey claimed that he had boxes deliberately tipped on to him from the top of the stairwell by other member of staff, and the door pushed open when he was in the lavatory.

Mr. Forsbrey, who earned £23,000 a year and dressed many of Prada's well-known clients such as Nicole Kidman and Kylie Minogue, is claiming unfair dismissal after having left the store last December.

Miss Kanth, who is in her 30s, denies having sacked Mr. Forsbrey, claiming that the tailor had resigned. She stated: "I found John difficult sometimes to communicate with. I felt I had to treat him with kitten gloves. I have a great respect for John. I saw him as a father figure."

The hearing, due to finish tomorrow, continues

17 October 2003

21st Century Prada

Avant-garde Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have created a landmark design for luxury group Prada in their Tokyo store last month, continuing to push the boundaries of store design.

Reputed to have cost GBP52 million, the new store features technological gadgets that would sit more comfortable in a space ship than a retail environment. Touch sensitive screens throughout the store, suspended from the ceiling, can be used by customers to obtain information on the merchandise.

The changing rooms will consist of a wall of glass, statically charged to turn it from transparent to opaque.

At night, the building comes alive, an almost organic form - glowing from the lights on every floor.

18 July 2003

Prada sells stake in Church's

A 45 per cent stake of Prada owned British luxury shoe firm Church will be sold to Equinox private equity fund for an undisclosed sum. Prada and Luxembourg-based Equinox Investment, owned by Italy's biggest banks and industrial groups including Banca Intesa and the Pirelli group, said in a joint statement the preliminary agreement was signed this week.

The two companies's said they would support Church's Group expansion in Europe, America and Asia in the next few years. "Prada has successfully concluded the restructuring and relaunching phase of Church's," Prada Group Chief Executive Patrizio Bertelli said in a statement. "Now, an agreement with a financial partner like Equinox ... will allow us to execute an important growth plan for one of our most prestigious brands, accompanied by a noteworthy expansion of its product," he added.

Prada is reported to have debts of around one billion euros and its latest disposal follows the sale of its 25 per cent stake in fashion label Fendi for 295 million euros in late 2001.

April 23, 2003