Prada has expanded its presence within the brand’s historical home: Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, on the site of the original Fratelli Prada boutique that opened over a century ago.
The new Prada Galleria concept sees an expanded women’s store with categories including luggage, beauty and home, alongside a wider bags, accessories and ready-to-wear offering; private-client spaces including a salon and apartment; Fondazione Prada’s Osservatorio, dedicated to visual experimentation and research; and Pradasphere, the first permanent exhibition space dedicated to Prada’s heritage, craftsmanship and evolution.
The four-storey, glass-vaulted arcade of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the Italian city’s most iconic landmarks, and now two opposing sides of its central piazza are occupied by Prada – the men’s and women’s stores facing each other and connected for the first time by a subterranean ‘Passaggio Segreto’. The luxury shopping centre, which opened in 1877, was this week the location for Vogue World’s fifth edition, with Prada’s co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons sitting front row alongside other luminaries of Italian fashion.
Prada Galleria’s interior design riffs on different elements of the brand’s distinct visual language while remaining sympathetic to the arcade’s original architecture. Pistachio green walls – the signature colour of Marchesi 1824, the Prada-owned pasticceria that sits in the mezzanine of the new space – contrast with black-and-white marble tile floors, and elsewhere rich wood panelling is echoed across vitrines and display cabinetry.
On the level above Marchesi 1824, the Pradasphere displays garments and artefacts from the company's 114-year history, where visitors can discover more about Prada's heritage, evolution, and craftsmanship from within its spiritual home. ‘For Prada,’ a press statement reads, ‘the past is never past but an accumulation of ideas bound by intuition, collaboration, and intellectual exchange.’
‘Prada Galleria’ shares its name with the brand’s signature top-handle bag, first launched in 2007 and named for the first Prada store, opened in 1913. Prada also opened the S/S 2027 season of Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday, with a collection featuring a total of 63 skirts, shown in the Fondazione space on the southern edge of Milan.
Prada Milano Galleria, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 63-65, 20121 Milan, prada.com