There’s a reason that Prada is consistently one of the hottest brands in the world each year, and whilst obviously we have to give props to the clothing, it's also largely because of the world Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons create through their campaigns. The main thing that sets Prada’s campaigns apart from the rest of the high fashion industry is that they’re designed for the intelligent; here’s how.
Prada’s in-house marketing team works overtime to bring Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ visions to life. Just look at the brand’s latest campaign for Fall/Winter 2024, titled “Now That We Are Here,” which sees Prada’s brand ambassadors Letitia Wright, Damson Idris, and Hunter Schafer conceptualising snippets of humorous surreal telephone conversations.
Not only does the campaign offer us an insight into the brand through the intimate conversations its ambassadors have over the phone, but also by allowing us to call up Prada's hotline ourselves. By dialling the number on billboards around the world, you can join a call with American filmmaker, artist, and writer Miranda July, the campaign’s collaborator.
The campaign might appear surreal but its concept is simple; snippets of recorded phone conversations help to create windows into Prada’s celebrity ambassador's lives. The scripted phone calls are each so intimate, humorous, and intriguing that they’re even shown against a white backdrop; it’s the storytelling that does the work.
Creative Director Ferdinando Verderi is one of the many creatives, besides Prada’s in-house team, behind the brand’s campaigns, regularly collaborating with Prada since 2020. Most notably, Verderi brought Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ vision to life in the Resort 2020 campaign.
Channelling the classic “Prada” perception of simplicity as a rebellion, Verderi’s approach to the brand’s Resort 2020 campaign offered an alternate viewpoint on classicism through wrapped images around bouquets of flowers. The campaign subverts the very concept of fashion advertising through the use of newspapers.
Following this, Verderi transformed Prada’s Autumn/Winter 2021 campaign into a Sotheby’s benefit auction, establishing the brand’s efforts towards fundraising by donating the sale of unique pieces from AW21 to raise money for Unesco. Every campaign he conceptualises for the brand is carefully considered, with a cultivated angle.
Another creative Prada often enlists for its campaigns is photographer Willy Vanderperre, who brings a casual refinement to Prada’s campaigns through his stripped back, understated style. The duo play on blank space that spotlights the brand’s designs rather than overwhelming the viewer.
In an industry that’s currently undergoing a craze for virality, with high fashion brands churning out content that feeds into social media’s latest “brain rot” trends, Prada’s consistently refined campaigns are how it sets itself apart from the noise. By maintaining a consistent aesthetic, Prada has established itself within the industry as a trailblazer rather than a follower of trends.
There’s a reason that, amidst a widespread downturn in luxury fashion sales, Prada’s one of the few brands seeing its year on year sales increase, with theirs going up by 6% as reported by Forbes; it's largely thanks to the creative minds behind Prada’s campaigns, and their ability to stay consistent, elevated, and most importantly intelligent.
What Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have proved is that jumping on fleeting viral trends in your campaigns isn’t the way to go. Instead, sticking to a consistent vision and working with an in-house marketing team and collaborators that just get it is how Prada stays winning in the high fashion industry.
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