My Favorite Fashion Brand
Prada, an Italian brand established in 1913, has seemed to be around for ever, and one could wonder how they have stood the test of time? Could it be through adaptability or maybe morphing to fit in with social needs? It is definitely because they have kept up with the ever changing definitions of the four main pillars; people, purpose, planet and profit.
People
The first Prada store opened in 1913, meaning that ,at that point the Prada family had to carefully examine the market and see where the gap was and to determine how to fill it. With the rise of social media in the modern era, these two tasks have become easier than ever. In contrast, the online fashion market is one of the fastest growing markets, valued at 775bn dollars ( https://www.statista.com/topics/9288/fashion-e-commerce-worldwide/#dossierKeyfigures) and Prada is set to increase its budget on online commerce to 40% (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-09-11/prada-s-digital-fashion-miss) . This in my opinion, clearly shows how Prada has evolved and stood the test of time in terms of supply and demand.
Purpose
In terms of purpose one must ask the question, why does this brand exist? So why does Prada exist? In the beginning of the brand’s life, it lived to serve the Italian royal house (https://www.pradagroup.com/en/group/history.html) . Now, however, the brand lives up to the image it has created itself, the high luxury fashion brand that specialises in leather. It has grown into the brand that is synonymous with innovation and pioneering.
Profit
When talking about profit it is important to not fixate solely on financial gains, we must also observe the social profit as in how popular the brand is. It is without a doubt that the brand is extremely popular ; its social media presence is very much there and impossible to not acknowledge in the modern social media focused era of today to not have any social media presence as a brand would be considered absurd, and Prada has definitely delivered in this respect.
Planet
When thinking of the planet pillar it is imperative to think about sustainability, so how is Prada being sustainable? Prada has recently come out with a line of bags made of recycled nylon thread, as well as taking out 4 sustainability lead loans to help improve the infrastructure that they have in place to tackle the issue of sustainability.