This week Prada launched the “Pradasphere II”, a public exhibition tracing the history and culture of Prada from its origins in 1913 to the present day.
Located at the Start Museum in Shanghai, China, the exhibition showcases a selection of stories curated by co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.
There are more than 400 artefacts — physical and digital — on display, drawn from the fashion archive as well as decades-long engagements across art, architecture, culture, and sport.
Building on the success of the first iteration in 2014, this exhibition follows the groundbreaking trajectory of Prada, exploring the indelible impact of its vision on luxury, beauty, and fashion as an intellectual act.
Staged as a lush magazzino (the Italian word for warehouse), Pradasphere II is a cross-section of the multivalent Prada universe. Created in collaboration with 2×4, the New York City and Beijing-based design studio, the exhibition juxtaposes the rough and refined: constructed of industrial warehouse shelving lined with precious pink silk velvet. Together, the exhibition puts forward a way of thinking about luxury: fashion intersects with life — history, art, sport, architecture, and sound.
The exhibition depicts Prada through accumulation, close examination, and hospitality. Diverse elements reveal the themes and ideas core to Prada. Some explore deep craft and skilled making, others reveal the manifold aesthetic contradictions at the heart of the brand, while some explore Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s ongoing quest to challenge traditional notions of luxury.
Sharing new perspectives on 110 years of history, the exhibition grants unparalleled, firsthand access into the brand’s past, present, and future.
Pradasphere II is free and is open now until 21st January 2024.
