Prada is arguably one of the most recognizable fashion labels. In fact, just last year GQ found that the brand was the third most mentioned fashion brand in hip-hop songs over the past 15 years. And with that distinction comes a whole squadron of imitators. But not to worry, since, in a recent interview with WWD, Miuccia Prada says she doesn’t mind.
When asked whether it bothers her to be copied, like in the case with the Hawaiian shirts she showed a few seasons ago that designers are now regurgitating across the board, Prada says “it doesn’t create any problem.” Unless, of course, designers are “sly” with their replications.
“Marc Jacobs says he loves me and says that he copies me, but it’s not true, “ she said. “He says it, but actually he doesn’t at all. Then there are the sneaky ones that copy from me and from others and nobody sees that. That irks me. Those designers that have spent their life copying a little bit here and a little bit there and pass as creatives, well, that bothers me. Whether they copy me or others, it’s the same.” Tough words.
Elsewhere in the feature, the Italian addresses two hot topics in fashion: Combining men’s and women’s shows and the move toward a see-now-by-now way of doing business. Having customarily shown a few women’s pre-collections looks during her men’s collections, the Miu Miu creator is a pretty historied voice for the “one show for all” mentality that Burberry and Vetements have recently adopted.
“I am against it,” she explains about the current system. “To do two creative shows in one is a massacre.” For Prada the combination only works in moderation as “women are showier and swallow up the rest.” And as for the idea of putting pieces in stores the same time that they are shown on the runway?
“We’ve thought about it a lot, but journalists need to see [the collection], buyers need to buy it. So far, we don’t see any sense to it. In six months, everyone knows everything. Surely, the way we work, with fabrics made for us, it takes two months for the fabrics, two months for the production…it takes around four months from the presentation to the store, to do it well. You can do it anyway and take it out at the last moment, pretend it’s just been done, but with a collection that you know by heart — what kind of enthusiasm can you have to show it on the runway?”
The only way it would work is to simply stay quiet. “It’s true that creativity is at risk,” she says. “Or else you have to block out communication, but this is against the trend. Everyone should be silent for four months, from producers of fabrics to buyers, journalists? I have yet to understand how this can work.”
Read the full interview on WWD.
