Manolo’s Prada Blog

Manolo says, the famous movie director Ridley Scott he has directed the four-and-a-half minute commercial for the Prada.

Last week, the four-and-a-half-minute ”Thunder Perfect Mind” made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. Directed by Ridley Scott, ”Thunder Perfect Mind” is part of a burgeoning genre of cinema — the superlong commercial as short film, in this case created for the introduction of the new Prada fragrance.

Maybe you have already seen Dolce & Gabbana’s melodramatic fragrance ad for Sicily featuring Monica Bellucci, or the TV spots of Baz Luhrmann’s mini-epic for Chanel No. 5 starring Nicole Kidman as an actress whose similarity to the actress Nicole Kidman plays in ”Moulin Rouge” is just too weird. The Prada film, which strives to be simultaneously more and less commercial, casts the model Daria Werbowy as a beautifully accessorized bundle of contradictions. As she makes her way through the streets of Berlin, she sees herself coming and going at every turn in the faces of other women, some older, some quite a bit younger, some more wholesome and some actually Werbowy herself. In a particularly delicious moment, shot in the back of a taxi, an unseen driver ogles her in the rearview mirror, watching as she removes her winter coat only to put it back on inside out. ”I was told, basically, to sit down and drink a cup of tea,” says Scott, who collaborated — or contended — with both his daughter, Jordan, a promising director in her own right, and Miuccia Prada. ”This project is a testament to women in all forms.”

Manolo says, the Manolo he is desperate to see this commercial.

Manolo says, here is the article that it sounds too ridiculous to be true.

My name is Aime Palmer, and I am a sucker for wholesale goods. Sam’s Club is my mecca — but not just for those fab mini quiches and the fresh salsa I serve at every other party.

My Waterford crystal? Sam’s. My Stag’s Leap Merlot? Sam’s. My Prada wallet? Sam’s.

They also generally carry Fendi and Prada handbags and small goods, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, Ferragamo and Dooney & Bourke accessories and designer fragrances (not to mention loads of bling bling) at prices seriously lower than department stores.

My Prada wallet? $154. Not very frugal, I know. But -ista in my dictionary means getting it for more than $50 less than average department store prices, a phenomenon that makes me all warm and tingly inside.

Manolo shouts, Ayyyyyyyy! The Apocalypse, she is upon us!

Manolo says, here are the Prada ads from the 1996 featuring the Tim Roth.

See, this it is the example of how the Miuccia she designs the clothes that have the feeling of the timeless classic. These clothes, from nearly the decade ago, they still feel fresh and stylish. This it is why the high cost for the Prada clothes it is justified.

Manolo says, this link it is an interesting piece of the art, one that is based on the advertisement from the Prada.

Manolo says, here for your enjoyment is the very good picture of the Prada Epicenter in the Toyko.

Manolo says, here is the interesting piece about the Liya Kebede that includes the unflattering comments about the Prada’s choice of the models.

[Kebede’s] success — and that of Sudan’s Alek Wek and Japan’s Ai Tominaga — is the exception, though.

Though those models are redefining beauty standards, progress for most models of color is slow.

The omissions are evident. Take fashion giant Prada, for example. CNN looked at runway shows going back several years.

Last year, there were no women of color in their show. In 2003, none and in 2002, zero.

Indeed, Prada has not put a woman of color on its runway in at least six years. A Prada spokesperson did not return CNN’s calls.

Manolo says, let us hope that the Miuccia, she hears this and changes her ways. It is indeed an omission that is worthy of the correction.

Manolo says, here are the pair of the cutesy Prada handbags from the Summer of the 2005 collection.

Manolo says, here is another of the Christy Turlington ads from the Prada past.

Manolo says, here is the longish article from the Time Magazine about the various troubles in the fashion industry. There is much about the Prada in it, however, what interested the Manolo was this prediction about the death of the couture.

Couture’s future is chancier. Those catwalk confections don’t turn a profit. From inspiration to hand-sewn conclusion, each runway spectacle can cost about $3 million to produce while the number of clients willing to pay $60,000 or more for a dress dwindles. With the U.S. dollar steadily weakening against the euro, such dependable American customers as Suzanne Saperstein, the fashion-mad wife of billionaire media tycoon David Saperstein, are tightening their Hermès belts or dropping out of couture altogether.

So are more and more fashion houses. In recent years, Yves Saint Laurent, Ungaro and Versace have shuttered their couture operations. Last year, according to analysts’ estimates, Lacroix generated about $39 million in sales from its couture, ready-to-wear and licensing businesses–with a loss of $13 million. Those in the designer’s inner circle say Lacroix is bitter about the way LVMH’S chairman, Bernard Arnault, handled the sale, although Arnault shows little regret. “For 17 years we have worked to transform the company, and we have not been successful,” he says. “It’s time to focus on our core businesses and those brands like [Louis] Vuitton that have the most potential.”

Manolo says, this, it is frightening. Without the attempts by some of the less skilled designers at the high-concept fashion what will the Manolo mock?