Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women (ready-to-wear, leather accessories, shoes, and luggage and hats), founded by Mario Prada. The label is a status symbol
The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a leathergoods shop - Fratelli Prada (English: Prada Brothers) - in Milan, ItaLY. Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks and handbags.
Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his workshop. Ironically, Mario's son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisia Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor, and ran it for almost twenty years. Her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over from her mother in 1978.
Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone.She met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leathergoods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia—and she followed the advice—on better decisions for the Prada company. It was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage styles.
