Prada was founded in Milan in 1913 when Miuccia Prada’s grandfather, Mario Prada, opened an exclusive luxury store in the prestigious Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the symbolic heart of the city. The store quickly became a favourite of the most stylish and elegant members of the European aristocracy and upper classes. In 1919 it was granted a Warrant to be an Official Supplier of the Royal Family, which allowed it to add the House of Savoy coat of arms to its trademark. The Prada store sold wonderful creations like fine travel goods, bags, suitcases and trunks in high-quality materials, as well as jewellery, glassware, walking sticks and parasols in exotic woods and ivory or shagreen, ceramics, and items in tortoiseshell, gold, silver and semi-precious stones. As well as being a perceptive and refined interpreter of the spirit of his time, Mario Prada was also an explorer, a pioneer and a visionary. His creations always started with a search for the rarest materials and the most sophisticated workmanship, which he combined with an insatiable curiosity and an innate love of innovation. Production was only entrusted to workshops that could guarantee high-quality work. These were the values that Mario Prada wanted to pass on and which later generations have been able to maintain and build upon.
