prada

Miu Miu has opened its latest store, the brand's third German boutique. The store is in Frankfurt on Goethestrasse, the city's most exclusive shopping destination, a street linked with names like Rolex, Vertu, Longchamp, Chanel, Versace, Armani and Miu Miu sister brand, Prada. Like other Miu Miu boutiques, this one was designed by architect Roberto Baciocchi and houses the brand's collections of bags, footwear and small leather goods. The entrance is situated between two display windows framed by polished steel fittings with brass studs. The store is clad in brown marble with a Miu Miu logo in polished brass. Inside the walls, ceilings and seating are upholstered in the brand's traditional gold damask, whilst the floor is laid in dark marble and large beige carpets. To celebrate this opening, Miu Miu is presenting a special edition bag that will be available exclusively at Miu Miu's Frankfurt store.

Backpacks are the go-to, functional and easy to wear bags. It's a no brainer. They offer ample space with plenty of compartments and pockets for organization. Backpacks distribute the weight of what you're carrying over both shoulders as opposed to ending up with one painful shoulder or an elbow.

Unfortunately, they are not the most fashion forward accessory to wear, especially if you are a lover of luxurious and head-turning handbags. So what is a woman to do when you need a practical bag that still exudes your sense of style? How about starting your search with our collection of eye catching backpacks that maintain their functionality. This is far from a complete list, but it serves as inspiration in your search.

First up is Prada's Nylon Backpack ($695) - a favorite of many for a multitude of reasons. It balances functionality and style so seamlessly that it has evolved into a classic and timeless accessory. Made with nylon, it lacks a bulkiness that many backpacks posses, it's easy to keep clean and lightweight. The interior is roomy and the exterior pockets allow for smaller items to be safe and easily accessible. In addition to a front flap closure with a magnetic and buckle closure, there's a drawstring closure for added security. Measurements: 12 1/2"H x 11 3/4"W x 6"D.

View the other backpacks in the collection below.

Prada has created a new project that honors global luxury. Based on the idea that in the early decades of the twentieth century, Miuccia Prada's grandfather, the visionary Mario Prada, traveled the world in tireless pursuit of ideas and inspiration, the new "Made in ..." project features collections from around the world.

"Prada Made in Scotland" is a collection of traditional tartan wool kilts. "Prada Made in India" features entirely handmade garments from the workshops that specialize in Chikan, an ancient form of Indian embroidery, as well as multicolored ballerina flats, sandals and handbags that employ an equally sophisticated traditional weaving technique. "Prada Made in Japan" takes the idea to denim with a collection of jeans produced by Dova, the world's most sophisticated denim manufacturer. The "Prada Made in Japan" jeans can be custom ordered in four different varieties of cloth and seven different washes. "Prada Made in Peru" is a collection of alpaca wool knitwear using artisanal techniques from the most traditional workshops of the Peruvian "campesinos." These collections are identified by special labels dedicated to each country of origin. These collections will be in stores next year.

Lochlann Quinn, once the chairman of the Allied Irish Bank, has put a pricey piece of real estate up for sale: the Prada location at 16 Old Bond Street in London. The Independent reports that the commercial real estate will be listed with property consultant Fineman Ross for around £30 million. The sale of the freehold of the building would also include the offices above the Prada store. The total rent is said to be more than £1 million a month. Old Bond Street, which in the Mayfair district of London, has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century. The southern part is known as Old Bond Street while the northern part is New Bond Street. Old Bond Street is home to a variety of luxury retailers including Tiffany & Co., Chanel, Gucci and De Beers.

Milan is delivering the most exciting fashion weeks in years. Fashion critics have been giving rave reviews to Italian designers saying that, for the most part, the collections have been inspired.

One of the more subdued shows of the week, Giorgio Armani (pictured above), presented a spring/summer 2011 collection of entirely navy blue and black--not exactly the most spring/summery of colors. No matter, the fitted double breasted blazers, one-shouldered gowns and skirts over sheer leggings were stunning. Even more interesting: His models were turned out in turbans and veils.

Prada launched its new Swing Sunglasses Collection at Joe's Pub in New York City this week. The capsule collection of sunglasses with swooped frames were designed to match the modern femininity of the Autumn/Winter 2010
collection. The new Swing Sunglasses combine a slightly 1950s cats-eye shape with the simple ultra-minimalist lines of Prada's 1990s fashions.

Prada, which is famous for its multiple collaborations with architects, designers, directors and photographers is also launching a "Manga Contest". Participants will include the best-known comic book-design schools along with independent illustrators. The participants will be asked to design a fantasy heroine who must wear Prada Swing sunglasses in the comic strip. The contest will be open to submissions from July 14 to August 31. The winner's heroines will become the protagonists of a Prada publication. The sunglasses sell for $245 and will be available in Prada stores in October.

The Prada Swing Sunglasses collection are also part of the brand's Autumn/Winter 2010 collection. The campaign for the collection was filmed by Steven Meisel and set to the rhythm of the song "Fever," as performed by KaTeY J. For more details on the fall campaign check out my colleague Jared Paul Stern's post earlier this week which includes the video for the collection.

Miu Miu has been expanding rapidly in Italy lately. The brand, which is part of the Prada empire, recently opened a store in Bologna and in Forte dei Marmi. The latest opening is in Porto Cervo, seaside resort in northern Sardinia, which finds its harbor stuffed with luxury yachts this time of year.

The name of the collection is taken from Miuccia Prada's nickname and features clothing and accessories that are often a little more playful than the standard Prada offerings. Miu Miu stores often open with exclusive editions and this one is no exception, take a look at the two Porto-Cervo exclusives after the jump.

Sexy supermodel Angela Lindvall takes on the role of torch singer for Prada's upcoming Fall / Winter 2010 ad campaign. The ads were shot by famed fashion photographer Steven Meisel in a blue-lit nightclub setting and have a Fellini-esque feel. Victoria's Secret stunner Miranda Kerr co-stars along with a sexy supporting cast including Valerija Kelava, Daria Strokous, Sigrid Agren and Kim Dall Armi, Models.com reports. Several new Prada accessories including camouflage pattern handbags are on display. Miuccia Prada's Miu Miu campaign meanwhile shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott features very blonde lookalike models Lindsey Wixson, Siri Tollerod and Ginta Lapina cavorting together. Both campaigns come accompanied by teaser videos; check out Prada's version above and images in the gallery.

Prada is launching its e-store in the U.S. starting July 1. in the beginning luxury websites were merely to promote the brand but these days brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci also offer online shopping directly off the main site rather than sending shoppers to department store websites. Unfortunately you can't buy Prada clothing on the site but you can pick up purses, accessories and eyewear. The e-store is designed to capture a boutique experience and an e-gift feature lets you order presents online and that can be delivered to the home of the recipient with a personalized card. The Prada site is already very content rich featuring video of runway shows, short films, lookbooks and ad campaign images. Next up for Prada-style e-commerce, Japan.

Ah, the Prada IPO, we've been talking about this one for a while but now it seems like it might actually happen as rumors increase that the brand will float shares on the Milan and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Long before this blog began, Prada began its journey toward an initial public offering only to shelve the plan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Back in 2008 Prada was ready to make a new go of it but then the global recession reared its ugly head. At the start of 2009, Prada asked banks to ease the terms on its debt. The Italian fashion house renegotiated some of its debt in order to have ready cash to create more stores. It had a net debt of around 1 billion euros at the end of 2008.

Prada is still 95 percent owned by Miuccia Prada, the label's designer and her husband and Prada chief exec Patrizio Bertelli. At the start of this year we heard a rumor that luxury behemoth Richemont might pick up a piece of Prada. The brand has continued to struggle with its finances for a while. The brand's debt of 450 million euros was extended to 2012. At that point Italian lenders valued Prada at around $3.8 billion. The AFP reported on Monday that an Italian daily, Corriere della Sera said that Prada's magic number for IPO valuation is more than four billion euros (over five billion dollars). Valuations for the company have it "between three and four billion euros" with the company "aiming at exceeding four billion."

The Cervo Frame Tote is a fresh and sexy new bag from the house of Prada.

The stunning frame is 16" wide in a lustrous gray, contrasted by a candlelight white body, 15" high and 7" deep. The smokey gray tinge keeps the gold hardware from looking "done" or tired, and the adjustable shoulder strap ensures that you won't break your arm off if you fill the bag.

We love the prominent angled seams, which give the tote shape and flair, and the shading around them looks almost hand done by a charcoal artist. The supple deerskin leather keeps this machinery-inspired look soft and feminine. We'd take this to work or to play -- even after Labor Day.

The Prada Cervo Frame Tote is available from Saks Fifth Avenue for $2,600.00.

With more and more places asking you to bring your own bags for shopping, luxury brands are getting in on the trend by providing chic ways to tote your goods around. The Prada B.Y.O. Bags are spacious and destructured bags in the traditional Prada fabric embellished with select archive prints. The lightweight (5 ounces) bags are meant to be carried around at all times and can be rolled up and tucked into another bag. They will be available exclusively at Prada boutiques starting this month for $295.

Big drama at Prada Japan. Our sister blog Daily Finance has a fascinating piece on a legal imbroglio that has dogged the luxury retailer's Japan branch. A former retail manager at Prada Japan, Rina Bovrisse (pictured), has claimed that the retailer forced employees to buy Prada bags and other items in order to cover up the fact that sales were falling. Bovrisse faced the luxury retailer in complaint court in Japan. That case was ruled "unsettled," and so a civil lawsuit was filed.

Bovrisse and two other former employees claim that, beginning in January 2009, the company forced its workers to purchase products. The sales could not be entered as employee purchases but had to be entered as a customer's full price purchase. That way the purchases would give Prada Milan, the worldwide headquarters of the brand, the impression that Japanese stores were meeting their sales targets. Employees were then paid back out of funds that were to be used for the company's holiday party and were marked as as "campaign" salary. But even then the employees were responsible for taxes on what was considered bonus pay and had to pay additional money. This situation limped along for a while and even after the reimbursements ran dry some Prada Japan employees were told that they needed to continue to purchase products or else the company would be forced to downsize. The requirements continued and Bovrisse says she personally bought $20,000 worth of products. Employees were strapped, they were struggling to pay their bills but were also scared that if they didn't buy they wouldn't have jobs. It's unclear when if ever Prada Milan knew about the program but so far it has denied responsibility for the program.

Luxury continues to be in flux in Japan.In 2008 Louis Vuitton scrapped plans for a new Ginza flagship store. Last year, Versace pulled out of Japan altogether. Instead of luxury stores, it's fast fashion stores like Uniqlo, H&M and Zara that are doing big business now. Forever 21 recently opened in the Ginza district where once only luxury brands flourished. In the past years, logo chasing was important to the Japanese but now many trendsetters favor a high-low approach, combining expensive pieces with more inexpensive items or pairing vintage finds with new pieces. The recognizable names are no longer quite as valuable to the consumer and luxury brands have seen sales drop as a result.

Tired of the same old scent? Interested in wearing a fragrance that has been personalized and created just for you?

Customized scents are a growing trend in the fragrance industry. While it is a cottage industry that has been around for a long time, more companies than perhaps ever before are now offering custom-ordered, personalized fragrances, including Scent Design, Esens, Neil Morris Fragrances and Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.

So how do you navigate the process of finding your own personalized fragrance? To find out these answers, Luxist consulted with Frédéric Malle, world renowned artisan perfumer and founder of Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, a Paris-based fragrance company.

Malle advises clients first to be prepared to dig deep into their imagination. Indeed, an artisan perfumer will ask you many questions to find out about your personality and desires.

Editions de Parfums handles each of its clients with extreme care. They take time and careful precision to ask the right questions of each client so that they can match them with a fragrance that will suit all of their needs.

Edition de Parfums is able to match the perfect fragrance for each client by having them first complete an in-depth questionnaire personally created by Malle. The questionnaire gives potential consumers the ease to tap into their imagination as they answer each question. The first question it asks clients to answer is "Do you have any particular desire at the moment?" Other questions include, "Why do you wear perfume?" (To seduce, refresh, add a final touch, etc.); "Is the perfume for yourself, or another or for all others?"; and "Which perfumes have most marked you?". The questionnaire inquires about the style of clothing a client will wear (formal attire, evening dress, city wear, sport, country, etc.) with the perfume and about his or her favorite clothing brands. Edition de Parfums also considers the weather and climate of where the client lives. The questionnaire can be filled out in Edition de Parfums stores or conveniently on line.

"Filling out the questionnaire on line is very similar to the experience that you would have when you walk in the store," says Malle. "It's almost better. Sometimes people want to fantasize about themselves and introduce themselves in the best way. For example when we ask 'what designers you wear?' on our website there are more people who wear Prada then Zara. People either answer the questions honestly or they may give an idealized version of themselves. It's fine to introduce yourself on the website in a slightly improved way other than reality because it gives us the style that you like best, not whether you can afford the style you like best."

"If you tell me that you want to buy a fragrance because you do a lot of running and after going to the gym and you need to feel refreshed before going into the office I won't point you towards the same fragrance as someone who tells me 'listen.... I just changed boyfriends and we go out every night and I want to be as attractive as possible after 9:00 pm...' It's a different deal," Malle adds.

The art of perfume is a science and artisan perfumers are experienced chemists who understand the complexities of chemical compounds. For a perfumer to create one single fragrance it can take upwards to one year to develop and perfect. This is not an easy or simple process. Before seeking out a fragrance that is specific to your needs, first find a perfume publisher with accreditation and experience (such as Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle). An experienced perfumer will compile information to "match your personality" with a fragrance that will be selected especially for you.

Malle, for example, has been a "perfume publisher" for more than 23 years. He was born into the world of perfume and is the grandson of Serge Heftler, founder of Dior Perfumes. In 1986 he joined the prestigious perfume laboratories of Roure Bertrand Dupont. There, he formed the foundation to cultivate his craft and befriended some of the world's most renowned noses thereby setting the stage for his future role as a creator of Edition de Parfums. Malle approached the best perfumers in the business who agreed to put their names one what eventually became some of their finest creations. Edition de Parfums was conceived in 2000.

Malle explained the inner workings of his company. "We have 18 different fragrances, all of which are very different from one another," he says. "There are so many options that could fit different personalities. This company works on two levels. One level we have the best fragrance creators who come up with very specific works of art. The second is at our stores or on our website where we do "match-making". We try to match the right person to the right fragrances within the collection."

The likelihood of walking into an accredited and experienced perfumery to make an inquiry about creating a personalized fragrance is close to zero. The process of creating a fragrance is so intricate and time consuming that most genuine perfumers do not offer this service. Edition de Parfums is one of the few perfumeries that takes the time to consult with each and every client to provide them with a fragrance that is customized to fit every facet of their individuality.

"It takes a year to get a fragrance right," says Malle. "So I don't see how it is possible for a sales person in any store could make a good fragrance in ten minutes. It is just impossible. It is a very long and tedious process and anyone that says otherwise would be lying."

Edition de Parfums fragrances can be purchased online or at one of its boutiques around the world. Fragrances range in price (depending on the scent) from 80 EUR ($108) to 130 EUR ($175) for a 50 ml perfume spray and 115 EUR ($155) to 200 EUR ($269) for a 100 ml spray. Soaps, shower gels and body lotions are also available for purchase. Edition de Parfums boutiques are located in Paris and New York.

Every once in awhile we find a beautiful bag that isn't made out of the usual materials of fine leather and exotic skins. This Prada creation, the Rete Metal Evening Bag doesn't just feature silvertone hardware -- it's made up of it entirely. This 'defined frame' bag has a chain mail body with no lining (so be warned: everyone will be able to see everything you put in it) and acrylic resin accents that look like enormous jewels perched on the kiss-lock closure and all along the chain shoulder strap. Simple but also amazing and striking. $2,100