Prada & Frankenstein A Spooky Combination

Prada held a cocktail party on June 27th 2019 to celebrate its Cloudbust thunder sneaker at 724 Fifth Avenue with cocktails beginning at 6:30 PM. The 8,000 square foot store located near Trump Tower also featured the new Prada “Frankenstein” collection which debuted in its January 2019 Fall Show.

At the time Miuccia Prada said she chose Frankenstein as reflective of “this idea of love, of this pitiful person looking for it, and of the human impulse to be understood, and not to feel isolated or betrayed.” Prada, who is now 70, continues to set fashion trends at a dizzying pace since taking over in 1978 from her grandfather Mario Prada who started the company in 1913. which is headquartered in Milan and which finally went public in June 2011.

Perhaps, her shyness helps her relate to Frankenstein who wears a mask to cover his emotions. Whatever, the reasoning behind choosing a monster to be the “face” of your label, Frankenstein was placed onto pencil skirts with his hands on men’s shirt along with roses, hearts and lightning bolts.

I hope Frankenstein has deep pockets because one of his zip-up sweatshirts costs $1,200 with a shirt-and-short combination retailing for $1,060 and $780, respectively, and fanny packs starting at $1,200. In fact, Prada was one of the first designers to feature the currently ubiquitous fanny packs in the 90’s when few luxury fashion houses were doing so.

They were equally forward thinking with sneakers with their Linea Rossa shoes that Miuccia designed for the America Cup in the 90’s being their number one sellers. They are hoping to achieve the same kind of stratospheric success with their cutting edge knitted thunder shoes that contain an injected gel which provides a 3D effect without utilizing stitching.

The three thunder sneakers selling for $895 were designed by Miuccia and the women’s footwear were featured in royal blue with black, black and yellow-appearing akin to something a robot might wear. The men’s shoes featured in yellow, black, white and red came with a matching Prada shoebox that could be sold on its own.

While attendees of the party were admiring the shoes and taking pictures at the photo booth the crowd was thinner than usual due to the event taking place on one of the first Thursday’s of the summer. Renowned DJ Mick who was wearing a Prada Frankenstein shirt spun tunes enthusiastically as champagne and scant hors d’oeuvres were served.

The four floor edifice is one of Prada’s flagship stores while its three epicenters are located in Beverly Hills, Tokyo and Soho Broadway. The Prada label has become famous for its “ugly” aesthetic with Miuccia stating, “ugly is attractive, ugly is exciting,” and using this approach to become the anti-fashion fashion house.

The Frankenstein collection is in keeping with Prada’s subversive approach that keeps everyone guessing as to what iconoclastic choice its legendary head has in sights for the future.