At its academy, Prada sets an agenda for the future: ‘Technology cannot replace the ability to work with your hands’

Picture 90 Giancarlo Piretti 106 desk chairs positioned in perfect parallel, accompanied by needle-sharp Prada pencils and crisp Prada notepads. To the side, Marchesi’s precision-cut rectangular finger sandwiches and chilled water served in Miuccia Prada’s favourite Ittala tumblers are lined up as refreshments alongside biscotti served on three-ply paper napkins.

What could very well read as a description of one of Prada’s legendary OMA-designed catwalk shows at the Fondazione Prada is instead the scene of the conference room at the group’s Scandicci production site in the epicentre of Tuscany’s industrial fashion hub, where all Prada and Miu Miu (soon to be joined by Versace) handbags are made. It’s not your usual corporate setting, but then, like everything it puts its name to, even a Prada press conference hits a little differently.

The Prada Group Academy celebrates 25 years

The details were apt to celebrate an important moment in the Prada Group’s history this week: the 25th anniversary of one of its proudest entities, the Prada Group Academy. Housed on the Scandicci site, it has been the brand’s heartbeat of artisanal education since 2000, imparting the exacting standards and fastidious attention to detail that it hopes will preserve artisanal Made in Italy craftsmanship and, over time, future-proof its output.

‘What we do here is 80 per cent hands, hearts and thoughts… it’s manic attention to detail, but the details build the overall picture – this is a total focus we have put in place,’ Prada CEO Andrea Guerra told reporters. ‘What matters is the continuing ability to plan, to be patient, and to look ahead. When you have an academy, you can’t think someone can produce a bag after three months; it’s a long path and journey. But we are not in a hurry. If you are in a hurry in the luxury field, you'd better change your business.’

Teaching skills in leather goods, footwear and ready-to-wear, the academy has trained 571 students (69.7 per cent women and 30.3 per cent men) in both practical and technical skills since 2021. The year-long course sees students’ progress – in practical tasks including pattern-cutting, stitching, glueing and handling raw materials, as well as mastering cutting-edge machinery – constantly assessed by maestros, many of whom have worked for the Prada Group for over 30 years.

With up to 70 per cent of each cohort being integrated into full-time positions on the factory floor each year, appetite is growing. This year alone saw a 28 per cent increase in enrolment, with additional courses on external sites specialising in knitwear and men’s footwear, revealed the brand. Speaking alongside Guerra, Prada chief marketing officer, Lorenzo Bertelli, said that far from evoking the nostalgia of Made in Italy artisanship, the academy seeks to make craft ‘contemporary and current’.

‘I don’t see what we’re doing as nostalgic – it’s very exciting to see that something was perceived as nostalgic before is a modern source of value,’ said Bertelli. ‘Despite the advancements of robotics that can replace people – the fact that people can still do things with their hands is the most exciting and contemporary thing we have.’

At 37, the son of Miuccia Prada and group CEO Patrizio Bertelli would have been only 12 when the academy welcomed its first students. In the two-and-a-half decades since, it has nurtured a multigenerational artisanal workforce that is expertly versed in what makes a Prada Group product among the most desirable in the world and positioned Bertelli Jnr as its chief marketing officer and ardent spokesperson.

‘In a world where technology is replacing process, technology cannot replace the ability to work with your hands and craftsmanship,’ said Bertelli, pointing to Prada’s ongoing collaboration with Axiom Space, producing Nasa spacesuits as an example. ‘We are currently working on the next Artemis mission and when we went to the States, they didn’t know how to sew the pattern of the space uniform – they needed basic knowledge and information,’ he said, noting these are skills acquired in the first year of training at the academy.

Joined by two of the group’s leather goods operators, Francesca Rettori and Leonardo Nesi, who both graduated from the academy, Bertelli reassured them that the skills they have acquired give them an invaluable skill set in the advent of AI.

‘I don’t see AI and craftsmanship as opposing things,’ he said. ‘They will converge sooner or later, but there is no clash between the two. There is a clash between AI and everything that revolves around AI – filling in Excel files is something that AI can do, and up until two or three years ago, people studied coding [to do this]. Today, you have be agile and flexible – and this is one area that I think there will be longevity. I don’t believe with a tablet you can create a bag.’

The celebration of the academy’s milestone, said chief people officer Rosa Santamaria Maurizio, provides Prada with a moment of reflection on its investment. ‘Twenty-five years for the academy is a crucial anniversary as it is a time that raises emotions. The academy is strategic for our company, it safeguards Made in Italy, safeguards craftsmanship, and creates an exchange between generations.’

pradagroup.com