The past few weeks I’ve taken my weekly Fashion Friday series to Instagram Live.  It was so fun interacting with readers in real time!  This week I’m getting back to my standard format and posting on Instagram Stories in addition to here on the blog.

The Fashion Law recently released an article showing the evolution of luxury designer logos.  It’s a shocking comparison to see “then vs. now”.  Every brand has shifted to a homogenous sans serif font.  The article dubs this shift as “blanding”.  Brand are TRYING to all look the same.  But why?

Part of the reason stems from our shift to online shopping.  When you shop in-store, you clearly know which luxury designer’s store you walk into.  But when you’re shopping online, it’s easy to click from brand to brand on a retailers page.  After a while, Gucci starts to blend with Balenciaga.  Consumers are more likely to add more items to their cart when multiple brands are available in a one-stop-shop compared to physically walking from store to store.  The homogenous aesthetic makes it feel more fluid and is less likely to distract the customer and make them stop shopping.

This got me thinking about one of the reasons why I love fashion.  Every designer has a specific brand DNA and I LOVE that differentiation.  I WANT to see the differences.  How boring would the world be if everything looked the same?

So with that spirit in mind, I’m kicking off a new series: The History of Fashion.

It’s my goal to educate and share what I know about designer brands so that you too can celebrate their uniqueness.

First up, Prada.

Interesting Facts About Prada

• Founded in 1913, the company began by designing leather bags.
• Miuccia Prada inherited the company from her grandfather and took the reigns in the late 1980s.
• Miuccia’s first initiative was a line of nylon handbags with a triangular Prada logo.  It was a huge commercial success and put Prada on the map.
• The Prada aesthetic is known for being “ugly chic”.  It shies away from elements that are traditionally beautiful and instead finds beauty in unconventionally beautiful things.
• Before helming Prada, Miuccia performed as a mime.  She also has a Ph.D. in political science.
• Miuccia’s mother was a Prada, so her last name was technically not Prada.  When her parents died, she had an unmarried aunt adopt her and reclaimed the Prada surname.
• Prada is one of the only luxury designer brands to only have a member of the Prada family as lead designer.
• In 2020, Prada announced that Raf Simons would assume the role of Co-Creative Director with Miuccia.
• Miuccia also owns and designs for Miu Miu (which is Miuccia’s nickname).