August, 2014 - Miuccia Prada - White Lady

Miuccia Prada - 1949 - 

Miuccia trained at the Teatro Piccolo to study to become a mime and performed as a mime for five years.  She was a member of the Communist party and involved in the women's rights movement during the seventies in Milan.  In 1978, she entered into her family's business of manufacturing luxury leather bags, a company established by her grandfather in 1913.  Around the same time, she met her future husband and business partner Patrizio Bertelli.

After enjoying a degree of success, thanks to the leather-trimmed nylon backpacks she created, Prada's husband, Patrizio Beretelli, insisted that she start working on a womenswear line.  Her first collection showed in 1989.  Prada's work since has delightfully reflected an "ugly chic" aesthetic.  Adhering to her feminist roots, she created clothes that at first glance may seem to be a little strange, loud, or even sometime downright unattractive.  But once her creations are put on a woman, they transformed into a sartorial assertion of power and confidence.  Prada explained that eventually she realized that, despite it being dubbed a trivial industry for airheads, "so many clever people respect fashion so much and through my job... I have an open door to any kind of field.  It's a way of investigating all the different universes: architecture, art, film.  I also realized people respect me because I'm good in my job."

The Drink:

White Lady

1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz Triple Sec
3/4 oz lemon juice


Archivists Notes:  For some reason, this drink was not recorded in the notes.  It may have been the 5th drink of the night, which sometimes leads to less accurate recording.

From "Women in Fashion Design" hosted by BanditQueen