Pradasphere II, a New Exhibition in Shanghai

Celebrating the Prada Story, With Raf Simons and Mrs. P. Herself

The first iteration of Pradasphere took place nine years ago in London before traveling to Hong Kong; a lot has changed since then, not least of all the appointment of Raf Simons as the brand’s co-creative director. And so Pradasphere II was envisioned as an essential follow-up that would re-examine the Prada story—“Stories from the Prada Warehouse, chosen by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons,” as it has been succinctly dubbed—and celebrate it in Shanghai, a vibrant fashion and arts hub where the brand has laid deep roots. “The first time I came to China was when I was 25,” Mrs. Prada recalled at the afternoon’s press preview, “so of course I like Shanghai,” she added with a cheeky smile.

Held in the Start Museum, an old railway station turned into a contemporary art gallery, the exhibition was organized in the form of a magazzino, or warehouse, that unfolds inside a long metal corridor wrapped in plush green Prada velvet. Guests are herded between two rows of industrial shelving, lined with pink silk velvet, that displays a series of archival looks in chronological order, as curated by Simons—a Herculean task by his own admission. “If you make a lot of great fashion, it’s more difficult to edit it down,” he says. “It was not easy to choose one look from one runway, but we had to.”

“It’s thanks to him,” Mrs. Prada interjects. ”I realize he worked a lot.” The curation devotedly charts the course of the brand, beginning quite simply with a white poplin shirt with a bowling collar and a dark brown faille straight sheath skirt from the very first collection—a twist on uniform dressing that feels just as relevant today as it did for fall 1988. “It was important to approach it more in the historical context for the simple reason that […] when Miuccia started in 1988, I think there was already a clear DNA that is still extremely important for Prada as a brand,” Simons explains of his curatorial approach, which eschewed some of the more obvious choices.

“Prada has been perceived by many people, including myself, that there was a lot of eccentricity,” he explains. “It almost seemed too easy for me to only take the eccentric looks. But there was also a lot of reality in the DNA, which was set in the first shows. The modernity of those simple ideas in the beginning is so relevant, it’s almost more relevant than the eccentricity. Because eccentricity is very often relevant in the moment in time that it is presented, but reality is relevant at all times.”

Seen altogether, one can admire the unwavering consistency of the Prada worldview. Take the white double satin cape from fall 1991 (Look 007 in the exhibition), which sits opposite a wide white silk satin skirt with hand applied flowers from fall 2023 (Look 076), as if in direct communication. There’s a red silk faille collared shawl coat from spring 1989 (Look 004), which calls out to a lovely fringe skirt of the exact same shade, embroidered with grommets, from spring 2024 (Look 080). Those same grommets appear down the line on a gray mohair skirt in a stunning mirrored room lined with 20 ball gown skirts that had been designed and crafted for the exhibition, a study of Prada’s use of materiality and construction over the last three decades.

Additionally there are a series of side rooms that expand on fragments of the brand story. The Fratelli Prada room charts the history of the first boutique opened by Mario Prada in 1913; other rooms are dedicated to the iconic black nylon bags and to architecture. The Gallery room reveals the latest collaboration with artist Damien Hirst, who created two new works: one of his signature formaldehyde boxes, containing a Prada Galleria bag, and two series of vitrine-like cabinets, one containing a colorful range of Prada bags, the other housing exact duplicates of those bags that have been 3-D scanned and cast in chrome.

Both Mrs. Prada and Simons hoped to foster a direct relationship between these Prada artifacts (more than 400 on display) and present a more intimate retrospective, in a time when a reliance on screens has created more distance between people and the objects they consume. Thus there are no glass nor velvet ropes protecting the garments; one can closely examine the hand-stitching on a blue sequin leaf embroidered across an olive wool skirt, or admire the unique texture of a stainless steel mesh skirt with crystal beading. Intimate, yes, but it ironically left visitors in a state of awe, as though they had come to some holy site. When Mrs. Prada and Simons quietly arrived at the Pradasphere Caffè for lunch, a hush fell over the crowd and many rose to their feet on instinct, as if witnessing the arrival of the pope.

When asked of her reaction to the exhibition, however, Mrs. Prada remarked in good humor, “I try not to be impressed. I try not to say, ‘my God, I did a good job.’ I’m always trying to think [what’s] next.”

Pradasphere II will be on display at the Start Museum in Shanghai from December 7, 2023 to January 21, 2024.