First conceived in 2007, the Prada Galleria has become an icon within the Prada universe. Named after the brand’s historic flagship boutique, opened by Mario Prada in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in 1913, the Galleria is ceaselessly rethought, reimagined and reenergized, season after season, becoming paradoxically both a reflection of fashion of our moment and a timeless wardrobe archetype.
For 2024, the Prada Galleria is rethought in both surface and structure, inside and out. The Galleria Soft Grain affords this classic a fresh lightness, the attitude of the bag transformed. Supple calfskin exteriors and nappa linings give the bag a fresh malleability, a delicacy that shifts with the touch. All metal hardware is gold-plated, and colors shift from purest black through a palette of warm neutrals.
This new treatment proposes itself as a canvas for embellishments that are innately keyed to the identity of Prada. Micro-stud applications, again plated in gold, form an all-over treatment on the exterior. Like point d’esprit or dots of light, they transform the surface, allying it to a language that is fundamentally Prada – studs are a form of decoration the brand has explored again and again throughout its fashion and accessories. Their hardness is another paradox, with the softer construction of the Galleria.
In an exploration of Prada’s leather working savoir-faire, in which the brand has been a globally recognized expert since 1913, the Galleria is also proposed with alternating embellishments of three-dimensional floral blooms, all hand-worked, one by one, in fine leather. The planes of the bag allow flowers to erupt, either finely-coiled rosebuds or full-blown anemones, reimagined as graphic devices by Prada’s virtuoso craftspeople. Connected intrinsically to Prada’s ready-to-wear collections, where foliate embellishments have had a presence across four decades, this decoration is both a hallmark of the brand and an expression of the superlative quality that characterizes both the Made in Italy mark and the name Prada.
