The PRADAsphere
Prada Spring/Summer 2020 campaign: PLAIN REDEFINED AS DARING ATTITUDE. The print campaign found in the March issue of Vogue featured unique acronyms of P-R- A-D-A alongside women in the new collection.
“Like the identity of women today, the identity of Prada too is fluid, fluctuating, open to interpretation - confounding explanation, eschewing rhetoric, refuting definition. The paradox and contradiction inherent to Prada make easy categorization or summarization impossible: Prada is simultaneously complex and simple, singular yet multi-faceted.”
I enjoy the meaning behind this campaign. The Pradasphere explains that the campaign “offers a multitude of views and perspectives that reflect that dichotomy - of the ever-shifting landscape of women that constantly inspire, and of the plurality of definitions of Prada” (Prada).
This campaign was delivered via print in magazines and via digital on their Instagram page and website. The design house also created short videos following the same aesthetic where the acronym was actively created by a young woman (voice over) saying the five words and completing the acronym. This campaign was part of an integrated marketing communications strategy across these platforms to create one aesthetic for this new collection, and to reshape Prada’s overall image and mission.
The campaign reshapes and reestablishes Prada’s mission and redefines what it means to be a Prada woman. Prada made sure to showcase a spectrum of models including some recognizable faces as well as some new faces. They wanted to create “a world of women” and “encapsulate their characters and personalities, celebrate their distinction” (Prada). This redefinition supports the overarching idea that there are numerous definitions and identities of the Prada woman. Each image depicts a different woman.The designer name P-R-A-D-A stays consistent in black typeface over a white background, and the images range from classic black and white to on-theme, warm-toned color. “The images bring to life a sense of perpetual renewal and reworking of photographic language, once more defying description and shifting between black and white and colour, between portraiture and full-length, rural and urban, spontaneous reportage and careful, classic composure. Between different lives” (Prada). The campaign constantly renews itself with new words and acronyms, new feelings and moods, new styling and complimentary aesthetics, and new locations and faces.
Explained in a statement: “There is a power to the word as a tool to define, and in Prada’s case, to challenge definitions, to re-define, de-contextualize and recalibrate, to evoke an imaginary narrative and hence change our eye as we examine the picture plane. An attempt at an impossible definition becomes a manifesto for the impossibility of definition itself.” The many facets, definitions, and women of Prada inspired this campaign. As the world, society, and the fashion industry progresses, and as new technologies are created, so will Prada. As we follow and practice new morals and values focusing on equality, inclusivity, and sustainability, Prada recognizes and welcomes, accepts, and encourages these changes and shifts.
Creative direction by Ferdinando Verderi.
Photographed by Jamie Hawkesworth.
Films by Ferdinando Verderi.
Models casted and featured in the campaign include: Freja Beha, Sara Blomqvist, Anna Ewers, Berit Heitman, Ruiqi Jiang, Ashley Radjarame, Kyla Ramsey, Charlotte Rose, Miriam Sanchez and Zso Varju.
Sources:
Prada. “SS 2020 Woman.” Pradasphere, www.prada.com/us/en/pradasphere/campaigns/2020-ss-woman.html.
“Prada (@Prada) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Instagram, www.instagram.com/prada/.
