Foundations
The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada Shoes 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 Shoes 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 Shoes 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.
The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada Shoes 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 Shoes 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 Shoes 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.
