Prada,
Italian Fashion Company.
The
company, originally known in Italian as Fratelli Prada ("Prada
Brothers"), was founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. In 1978, Mario's
granddaughter Miuccia Prada inherited what was still a leather
goods business from her mother, and led the company's expansion
into haute
couture
Following lead in other companies in a popular trend of large labels to absorb
as many other fashion houses as possible, Prada took on large debts to take on
the financially floundering Rome-based house of Fendi in the early 1990's. Prada
shared shares in Fendi with the Louis Vuitton Moet
Hennesy (LVMH) company. Prada was unable to turn around/support the money losing
Fendi label, and sold its shares to LVMH. Prada is still to recover from this
debt. The only brand to avoid the pitfalls of forming a large luxury label company
is that of Giorgio Armani. |