Miuccia Prada

Miuccia Prada is the former co-CEO and lead designer of the handbag and fashion empire Prada, which was founded in 1913 by her grandfather, Mario Prada. Miuccia Prada is a name that has come to define modern fashion. The youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, she took her family’s leather goods business and transformed it into a global powerhouse, now synonymous with avant-garde style and intellectual luxury. Miuccia didn’t exactly take the obvious path to fashion. She earned a PhD in political science, trained as a mime, and even joined the communist party before stepping into the family fold in 1978. It wasn’t until 1985 that her design signature really came into focus—a line of lightweight black nylon backpacks that reimagined utilitarian basics as luxury objects.

With her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, as a key collaborator, Prada launched her first womenswear line in 1988, a collection she once described as “uniforms for the slightly disenfranchised.” That ethos—subversive yet refined—has been the backbone of Prada’s allure. Then came Miu Miu in 1993, a line that has carved out its own space as an unpredictable but deeply influential label, with its shows now a staple of Paris Fashion Week.

In 2020, Prada announced a creative partnership with Raf Simons. The idea of two titans of fashion working together, each bringing their distinct but complementary visions to the brand, was unprecedented—a collaboration that made the industry sit up and take notice. Simons’ minimalist and modernist approach blended seamlessly with Prada’s intellectual and subversive aesthetic, creating collections that pushed boundaries and challenged conventions.

Miuccia Prada’s constant pursuit of what’s next, her drive to unsettle the status quo while keeping a finger on the pulse of culture, makes her a true trailblazer. She’s not just part of fashion history; she’s actively rewriting it.