Material gains: the world's most innovative designers on creating their own take on Prada's signature black nylon
Miuccia Prada has always been a mistress of contradictions. Born into a luxury luggage dynasty, she spent her formative years protesting as a member of the Italian Communist Party. She turned ‘ugly’ geek attire and 1970s patterns into things of beauty and even transformed humble black nylon into the stuff of desires.
Now, the fashion matriarch has asked four leading creatives to make the fabric even more precious in a venture called ‘Prada Invites’. "When I started using nylon, it looked more intriguing to me than couture fabrics. I am still obsessed with it," says Prada of the material used by the architects and designers in the project, for which the brief was to create striking men’s accessories and items of clothing.
"This led me to invite diverse creative minds to reflect on an idea, more than on the material. Each of them, free to interpret the black nylon and explore its potential, created unique pieces revealing their own personal visions."
Konstantin Grcic
Industrial designer
Grcic – who trained as a cabinetmaker in Dorset before going on to found his own Munich-based design project – has applied his purist aesthetic to perhaps the most singular of the Prada Invites pieces, a multi-functioning hybrid.
"The key reference for my proposal is the fishing vest, representing the idea of a bag as a garment," says Grcic of his design, which folds into an apron and can be adapted into a vest with a hood.
Model wears apron, ￡2,780, Prada Invites
"My first thought was to create Joseph Beuys’ famous fishing vest in Prada black nylon. Later, I worked on the apron and hood, which interpret the theme in a more abstract way."
Rem Koolhaas
Architect
The Dutch architect’s relationship with Miuccia Prada is one of her most long-standing. The duo have collaborated for more than 20 years on stores, installations and the most recent addition to Fondazione Prada: a nine-storey exhibition space in the form of a tower.
"In 1984, Prada was single-handedly responsible for the return of the backpack. It became the preferred urban personal-goods bag," says Koolhaas.
Model wears frontpack, ￡2,710, Prada Invites
"This project proposes a reinterpretation of the backpack, more suitable to the contemporary urban citizen. It is carried on the front; its contents are at any time accessible to the wearer. The frontal position gives a more intimate sense of ownership – a better control of movement."
Herzog & De Meuron
Architects
"We felt like the black-nylon project was a logical extension of our core discipline of architecture, because clothing is a house for the body," says Jacques Herzog of his and partner Pierre de Meuron’s creation, a coat made up of nylon strips, bullion buttons and abstract prints.
Herzog & de Meuron’s projects have ranged from the Beijing National Stadium to the Serpentine Pavilion, but it was their deep respect for Mrs Prada that prompted the conversation about this project .
Model wears coat, ￡2,505, nylon gaberdine shirt,￡1,485,nylon-gaberdine trousers, ￡545, and jersey T-shirt, ￡740, all Prada Invites
"Miuccia Prada is an exception in the fashion world. She is a serious artist and, under her guidance, the brand continues to be more innovative than anybody else," says Herzog.
Ronan Bouroullec
Designer
It was the silhouette created by a folio tucked under the arm that inspired Paris-based Ronan Bouroullec – along with his brother and design partner Erwan – to create a folder in leather, nylon and cardboard. "I’ve always like the profiles of people walking around with art folders; the movement of that rectangle, its clear-cut, fixed geometry contrasting with the moving bodies," Ronan says.
Model holds portfolio, ￡1,630, Prada Invites
Organic fluidity has been the calling card of the brothers’ work since they founded their furniture business in the 1990s, evident in their Vitra Algues fronds, exploding plastic fixtures that mirror rippling underwater plants to act as a screen divider, or in their interactive ‘textile field’ for the V&A comprising 240sq m of fabric.
"This project takes that geometry and instils it in a bag – with elastic bands and eyelets – producing a subtle graphical playfulness," he adds.