Prada brings Brazilian flair to Miami with new boutique

Prada has opened a new 650 sq m concept store in the Miami Design District.

(Image credit: Robin Hill )

last updated 7 October 2022

Occupying a corner spot within Miami’s glittering Design District, where designer boutiques clamour for shopper’s attention, a new Prada concept store is making its presence known.

From the outside, its exterior evokes the precision and rectilinear lines of 1960s design thanks to a series of dense white vertical blades that are clustered over its large windows, providing shade from Miami’s intense sun while also revealing or concealing the interior.

Inside, the collections – including men’s and women’s clothing, handbags, accessories and footwear – are spread over two generous floors connected by a spectacular timber staircase. Here, the Milanese label respectfully nods to the city’s architecture with numerous references to art deco and Latin America, but reinterpreted through the eyes of Prada.

Walls are clad in Prada green bas-relief panels featuring various 3D floral designs taken from the label’s collection prints. The result is an interior that is distinctly Prada, while also recalling the ‘tropical deco’ sugary pastel-painted buildings of old Miami Beach.

Outdoor bench — *Presidential sofa, by Jorge Zalszupin, 1970*

Black and white art deco marble chequered tiles inspired by the historic Prada store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan line the floor in a pleasing contrast to the soft green walls. Throughout the 650 sq m space, small areas of seating, rosewood screens and valet stands provide a touch of the domestic, creating comfortable areas for shoppers to stop and rest.

Furnishings are made using Brazilian rosewood, jacaranda and cabreuva, and include Brazilian mid-century pieces by the likes of Portuguese-born interior designer Joaquim Tenreiro – widely regarded as the father of modern Brazilian design – Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, Jorge Zalszupin, José Zanine Caldas, and Sérgio Rodrigues. The vertical slats of rosewood that are used to create the tables, screens and benches subtly echo the vertical slats used across the building’s ceilings and exterior.

Following on from the launch of the Prada365 initiative at the beginning of the year – a multi-channel realignment of the label’s direction – the domestically styled concept store marks a move away from more formal layouts and sets out a distinctive template for what we can expect to see from Prada’s approach to retail design in the future.

More from Design Miami 2017

Art, literature and Instagram collide at the Nautilus

Studio Drift strike out, first to the mountains and then to the Miami skyline

ICA Miami’s new home has all the right angles

The two-storey boutique features walls with Prada green bas-relief panels and art deco chequered marble tiles.

Room divider, by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1950s

The store has been populated with mid-century pieces by Joaquim Tenreiro, Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, Jorge Zalszupin, José Zanine Caldas, and Sérgio Rodrigues.

Single day bed, by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1950s

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Prada website. Follow our live report from Design Miami 2017

ADDRESS

Prada
152 NE 41st Street
Miami

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

TOPICS

Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.

Wallpaper* Newsletter