Prada puts nylon centre-stage at Galeries Lafayette in Paris

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Nov 14, 2019

Prada and nylon. A long-lasting love story, as shown by the latest collaboration between the Italian luxury label and the Galeries Lafayette department store: ‘Prada Dreamscape’, a pop-up store project opening on November 15 on the ground floor of the Galeries Lafayette’s Haussmann branch in Paris which, until December 1, will showcase a selection of the label’s nylon handbags and accessories.

For the occasion, the Prada area, normally occupied by a traditional accessories concession, has been entirely made over in the pastel colours that characterise the new collection, in which Prada’s nylon sheds its traditional black to adopt a series of unexpectedly soft hues. With walls and ceiling repainted aqua green, futuristic display counters made of plastic and a candy-pink fitted carpet floor, the area looks like a jewel case for a greedy young girl.
 
The collection consists of bags in all shapes and sizes, from handbags to messenger bags, bucket and tote bags, clutches, wallets and more, and of bob hats, headbands and all sorts of hair clips, all sporting the well-known triangular Prada logo, in a palette ranging from turquoise to pea green, pink, black and beige.

For nearly 40 years, nylon has been the label’s signature material. “All of a sudden, nylon seemed to me to be more interesting than any other designer fabric. I therefore decided to include it in my collections and catwalk shows, inevitably questioning, and almost subverting, the traditional, conventional perception of what luxury is. Even now, nylon is still an obsession for me,” said Miuccia Prada, the label’s creative director, on Prada’s website.

Prada’s renowned nylon handbag collection was first introduced in the 1980s, disrupting the design canon of the times. Ten years later, Prada began to use the same material in its men’s and women’s ready-to-wear lines, making it one of the label’s most recognisable traits.
 
Last June, Prada launched the ‘Re-Nylon’ project, introducing a handbag line that uses nylon made from recycled waste, notably from the oceans, in collaboration with Aquafil, the company that produces Econyl, a regenerated nylon yarn made from waste materials originating from fishing nets, textile fibres and old carpets.
 
The group’s goal is for all its clothes and accessories currently made with traditional nylon to be made with Econyl by the end of 2021, something which is not yet the case for the collection on sale at the Galeries Lafayette pop-up store.