As founders age, a question mark hovers over the future of Italian fashion brands… while Giorgio Armani, 85, cancelled his show because of coronavirus.
The shock announcement that Miuccia Prada has brought in Belgian designer Raf Simons as a design partner is currently thehot topic in Milan.
The ‘succession question’ has been hanging over the Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion season.
Prada, 70, and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, 73, made the surprise announcement on the final day of the shows, when the arrival of the coronavirus was starting to panic the city.
Bertelli explained that the new partnership will encompass all creative facets of the Prada label, although it seems unlikely that companion line, MiuMiu, will be included.
Prada announced the partnership as “a new approach to the very definition of creative direction for a fashion brand” and also “a strong challenge to the idea of the singularity of creative authorship”.
“The synergy of this partnership is far-reaching,” claimed the official notice, although, sitting wide apart in the corporate press-conference room, neither designer seemed to have a clear vision of how they intend to collaborate.
“Our relationship started about one year before my entering Jil Sander in 2005 – and we always kept a beautiful relationship and dialogue about fashion and politics,” said Simons. “Then Mr Bertelli approached me right after my exit from Calvin Klein and we have been talking for one year.” (Simons’s CK experience was generally considered a flop – the designer’s approach did not gel with that of the big American conglomerate.)
© Jeremy Moeller/Getty
“I questioned the idea of creativity in today’s fashion system and that brought me into open dialogue with other designers, not only Miuccia,” Simons said. “A lot of designers are questioning their own positions in an ever-evolving fashion business. We have to re-look at creativity, which is still at the core of real fashion.”
Miuccia replied that the challenge is to “put the creative aspect first”.
Raf talked about the power of two creatives, saying, “it has more strength, in my opinion, so it’s as simple as that”.
Both declined financial questions or any discussion of whether Simons has shares in the company.
‘Mrs Prada’, as she is always known, offered an exceptionally strong show earlier this week. But Simons was not part of that, since he joins the company officially on 1 April.
© Victor Virgile/Getty
The many ambiguous statements made it obvious that the exact strategy of the Raf/Miuccia collaboration is still to be ironed out. But one response to a question about the shared creative relationship and the general discussion about succession met with a steely response.
“Absolutely not a succession,” said Prada. “I like working and I am very excited that we are bringing Raf in - nothing more. Don’t make me older than I am please!”
“Sincerely, I think I will have to work more,” she continued. “It will take a lot of energy to share.”
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