Why The Prada Galleria Bag Will Forever Be A Fashion Staple
Now it’s finally having its moment in the spotlight
With the click of a smartphone, a tourist donning a Prada Galleria Bag captures the ultimate ‘if you know, you know’ selfie in front of the brand’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II boutique. But what makes this combo quite so meta, one might ask?
Prada Galleria Bag: Forever A Fashion Icon
The Prada Galleria bag is not only Prada’s most iconic bag; its name pays homage to the brand’s flagship (and first) boutique, which still sits under the 19th century galleria’s glass dome in the Italian fashion capital of Milan. The store itself has been left almost untouched since its opening in 1913, with its mahogany shelves, signage, and expansive arched front windows giving a clear nod to the past while still somehow feeling current.
So, too, is the Galleria bag. A sleek, anti-trend accessory which first debuted in 2007, it was inspired by the medicine bags of the 1950s and it is made with Saffiano leather, a scratch and water-resistant calfskin defined by a crosshatched surface texture, which goes through an intricate hot-pressing process that ends with the raw edges being smoothed and hand-painted to match. It’s a material patented by Mario Prada himself and remains a leitmotif for the family-run company to this day.
As Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons continue to navigate a new design era together at the house, the Galleria remains a timeless piece that recalls the family’s rich past. A heritage deeply rooted in hand craftsmanship, as signified by the fact that in 1919, Prada was appointed Official Supplier to the Italian Royal Household. An honour spelled out on the Prada logo itself, which features the House of Savoy’s coat of arms and knotted rope motif. Design details which continue to be applied to each piece in Prada’s factory in Scandicci, in a 38,000-square-foot complex that lies on the outskirts of Florence.
Synonymous with Prada’s 21st-century approach to design, the bag’s leather and gold-toned triangle-shaped metal Prada plaque is created with letters that are meticulously adhered to the logo one by one. And the bag itself is composed of 83 individual pieces. Its creation is a true duet; a combination of industrial precision and the exactitude of the delicate craft only possible by hand.
It is a bag so beloved by the brand that last year the company launched its first campaign focused solely on a handbag and a single product. American actress and Euphoria star Hunter Schafer was tapped as the campaign’s star in a one-minute film directed by Xavier Dolan and placed in a frivolously decadent, retro set of colour, glamour and iconic mementos of past and present.
To further celebrate the intricacy of the construction of the Prada Galleria Bag, the house also recently debuted an animated short film. It reveals, in a symphony of Prada’s signature ‘Celeste’ blue, how the latest version of the bag is crafted. Rows of bodyless skilled hands meticulously assemble the bag’s myriad of individual parts, taking viewers on a surreal journey of the company’s highly guarded artisanal process.
By shining a light on the Galleria bag, Prada is giving a whole new generation of luxury consumers a deeper understanding of the brand itself. A house proud of its heritage, and yet always willing to deconstruct its past down to its fundamental elements to find inventive ways to make its codes speak to the discerning luxury clientele of today.
Photography: Efraim Evidor. Styling: Nour Bou Ezz.