Fabio Zambernardi

Fabio Zambernardi has been one of the most influential forces behind Prada and Miu Miu, helping shape their aesthetics for over four decades. A long-standing figure in Miuccia Prada‘s creative orbit, Zambernardi has been steering the brands’ vision since the early ’80s, first stepping in as a collaborator in 1981. By 2002, he had ascended to design director, overseeing everything from ready-to-wear to accessories, ensuring that the boundary-pushing ethos of Prada remained consistent across every stitch, every silhouette.

Unlike many creative directors who live in the spotlight, Zambernardi has always kept a low profile—a behind-the-scenes mastermind, quietly elevating fashion into art. He has been described as “maximalist, but with simplicity,” an approach that’s defined Prada’s avant-garde yet deeply commercial DNA. His aesthetic is often a balance between what feels unsettling and what feels familiar, a juxtaposition that continues to push boundaries. It’s this philosophy that guided his styling work with Tim Walker for AnOther magazine, where he leaned into themes of discomfort and banality, aiming to find beauty in the unpolished.

His most recent chapter, however, marks a turning point. After more than 40 years, Zambernardi has stepped away from Prada Group—an amicable departure that took place in October, right after the Spring 2024 collections. With Prada and Miu Miu experiencing a major surge in brand momentum and profitability, Zambernardi’s timing seemed fitting: he left behind two brands at their most commercially powerful in recent memory.

For Zambernardi, staying “fashionable” was never the goal—a word he often dismissed as being both “terrible and boring.” Instead, his mission was always about surprise—to make audiences desire something they never knew they wanted. As he steps out from behind the curtain, his legacy at Prada will be felt for years to come—in every surprising cut, in every odd yet perfect choice that makes Prada, unmistakably, Prada.