Miuccia Prada

Miuccia Prada is the Executive Director of the Prada Group, serving as Co-Creative Director of Prada alongside Raf Simons and the Creative Director of Miu Miu. In January 2023, she transitioned from her role as Co-CEO to focus on creative strategy, remaining a vital force on the company's board as the group navigates a new era of expansion.

The youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, Miuccia transformed her family’s modest leather goods house into one of fashion’s premier ready-to-wear powerhouses. Prada is now the flagship brand of the publicly listed Prada Group, which includes Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe and, as of December 2025, the historic Italian house Versace.

Prada completed a PhD in political science before training as a mime artiste, joining the Communist Party and working at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro. She entered the family business in 1978 and began designing in 1985, producing a line of lightweight nylon backpacks that became an immediate global success. With the encouragement of her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, she debuted her womenswear line in 1988, which she described as “uniforms for the slightly disenfranchised.” She added Miu Miu, a secondary line, in 1993; by 2025, it had become a dominant power brand, recording a 41 per cent increase in retail sales for the first nine months of that year.

Miuccia Prada’s pioneering approach also led her to be among the first to collaborate with world-renowned architects to redefine retail design. Pritzker Prize laureates Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron worked with the house to create the “Epicenter” stores in New York (2001), Tokyo (2003) and Los Angeles (2004). These spaces masterfully blend luxury goods with technology and architecture to create unique sensorial experiences.

In February 2020, Raf Simons was appointed co-creative director of the Prada brand, working in a partnership with Miuccia that carries equal responsibilities for creative decision-making. Their collaboration has seen the brand reach new heights of cultural relevance. In April 2025, the Prada Group made its most significant strategic move in decades by acquiring Versace for €1.25 billion ($1.4 billion). Following the completion of the deal in December 2025, Miuccia’s son, Lorenzo Bertelli, was appointed Executive Chairman of Versace, formalising the group’s long-term succession plan.

Prada has received numerous accolades, including the CFDA International Designer Award (2004), the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards (2018) and most recently, a special recognition for her contribution to Italian craftsmanship following the Versace acquisition in late 2025. Her work through Fondazione Prada continues to define her as one of the world's most influential patrons of contemporary art.