Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/681153
80 aspenpeak-magazine.com PhotograPhy courtesy of Prada ironic, given that it was a world she was reluctant to join. Consider: She is likely the only fashion grandee with a doctorate in political science. Probably the only former Communist Party member with five years of mime training, too. It was not her ambition to take over Fratelli Prada, the luggage company her grandfather founded in 1913. Yet, in 1978, she taught herself design, and, seven years later, launched a range of instantly iconic black nylon handbags. Now, Prada boasts more than 600 boutiques in 70 countries, and turns over some $4.65 billion every year. Still, integration wasn't easy. From her first full collection, in 1989, Mrs. Prada refused to do things the "correct" way. "By definition, good taste is horrible taste," she says. "I have a healthy disrespect for [conventional] values." Prada helped subvert Milan fashion—which back then was all "good," glitzy taste—with elegant, understated stylings and unfussy shows, an attitude that continues to serve her today. Says the designer, "Fashion fosters clichés of beauty, but I want to tear them apart." 312 S. Galena St., 970-925-7001; prada.com . "By definition, good taste is horriBle taste." —miuccia prada Prada's women's store enjoys pride of place at the heart of the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. right and below: Backstage glimpses of Prada's Spring/Summer 2016 collections. STYLE TasTemaker