Prada’s approach to manufacturing is based on two key principles: the constant quest for innovation, ensuring the continuous evolution of skills and expertise, and a vocation for craftsmanship, which is an essential asset for production and a unique distinction for every brand.

Raw materials are an essential part of product quality and are of primary importance for the Prada Group. In many cases the fabrics and leather are made especially for Prada, according to stringent technical and style specifications that guarantee both the excellence of the materials and their exclusive nature, and highlight the independent spirit imbued in all Group products. Raw materials undergo strict quality controls by internal inspectors and experts.

Prada products are made at 22 manufacturing facilities owned by the Group (19 in Italy, 1 in the United Kingdom, 1 in France and 1 in Romania), and through a network of contract manufacturers which receive the raw materials, patterns and prototypes and undergo thorough controls. This system, which enables close oversight of each step of the process and ensures high-quality workmanship, emphasizes the manufacturing excellence of each facility and guarantees significant flexibility in the organization of production.

Production employees have been working for the Prada Group for an average of 20 years; this ensures an extremely high level of specialization, in-depth knowledge, harmony with the Group’s unique concept, and the seamless transmission of production techniques and core values to younger generations.

Over the years, the Group has expanded its distribution network to 634 directly operated stores (“DOS”) in the most prestigious locations of the major international shopping destinations, consistent with the image, heritage and exclusivity of each brand. This extensive network, the subject of continuous research and renovation, is a true asset for the Group as it showcases the new collections and is the fulcrum of the omnichannel strategy. The DOS serve as more than a primary sales function as they are also an important means of communication: they are the true ambassadors of the brand, conveying the image of each brand consistently and categorically. The DOS are integrated with the e-commerce strategy and allow the Group to monitor in real time the sales performance of the various markets for each brand and product category.

The wholesale channel (department stores, multi-brand stores and franchisees) provides additional venues selected for their prestige of location and enables direct, immediate comparison with other brands. At the same time, the Group’s developments in the digital world have led to new partnerships with top online retailers (“e-tailers”).

The retail channel generates some 82% of the Prada Group’s consolidated sales while the wholesale channel accounts for the remaining 18%.

Effective communications are key to building and transmitting a strong image for the brands consistent with their identity. From impeccably executed fashion shows rich in content to award-winning advertising campaigns, Prada and all the Group’s brands continue to create a captivating, stylish image that is valued particularly by a high-end, international clientele and by the strictest, most demanding observers and critics.

Meanwhile, as the media continues to showcase the Group’s products on hundreds of covers of the world’s leading fashion magazines and in the most influential dailies and weeklies, the visibility of Prada brands keeps on growing. Special events also help promote brand profiles and boost awareness of the most recent collections in local markets, especially in large cosmopolitan cities.

The primary importance that the Prada Group attaches to innovation is apparent in the continuous development of communications projects. The recent decision to focus its strategy on digital communications and social media has further helped to raise brand profiles and strengthen customer relationships.

The Prada Group is a universe of cultures, talents and nationalities that puts the human factor at the center of its work. This variety, which translates into intellectual vibrancy, is one of Prada’s most valuable tools for understanding changes in society and in the market.

Working in an ever-evolving global market, the company hires and manages personnel by respecting and making the most of diversity in its broadest social and cultural aspects. At December 31, 2018 the Group had a workforce of 13,556 individuals (headcount) from 107 different countries, with women making up 62%.

From the outset, Prada has encouraged and rewarded workplace skills, results orientation and teamwork. Employee enthusiasm and craftsmanship are the elements that underpin the innovation and quality of the products of the Group, which pursues excellence in all its endeavors and relationships. It cultivates a mindset that leads people to strive for perfection in their work.

Prada Academy is the physical and virtual place in which knowledge, skills, techniques, practices and innovative ideas are shared and developed to foster talent and ensure the Group’s future growth. The Prada Academy aims to develop human capital and convey professional expertise with projects, tools and training modalities diversified into three macro areas: Craftsmanship School, Retail Training and Corporate Training.

Educational paths related to industrial production take place at the Craftsmanship School through courses dedicated to acquisition of footwear, leather goods and clothing manufacturing know-how. The goal is the protection and conservation of the wealth of knowledge and expertise that characterize the Prada Group’s history of expertise.

In the area of Retail Training, in addition to the daily support of experienced personnel, the activities conceived for the retail staff include institutional training courses designed to consolidate professional skills, knowledge of the product and customer service.

The professional training for members of the Corporate team is centered on courses geared toward the enhancement of technical and behavioral skills aimed at achieving more effective management of operational complexities.

The extensive, merit-based compensation and benefits system ensures fair and equal treatment in terms of gender, title and seniority, and makes the Prada Group a true equal opportunity employer. The Group’s remuneration policy seeks to attract, reward and retain skilled personnel and expert managers, while bringing the interests of management into line with the primary objective of creating value for the medium/long-term future.

The Remuneration Committee oversees the compensation packages of top management, taking into consideration roles and responsibilities, as well as market standards for similar positions in a panel of companies comparable to Prada in terms of size and complexity.

Personal protection is of key significance to the Group: internal policies safeguard the health and safety of employees at all Company locations according to the highest standards and in full compliance with local and international regulations.

In most locations (offices, warehouses and stores), risks associated with the Group’s operations are limited. Manufacturing facilities present the greatest risk in terms of health and safety, but still to a small degree. Safety training and refresher courses, with an emphasis on industrial facilities, helped keep the number of accidents very low in 2018, as well as in previous years.

The Prada Group collaborates with trade unions to continuously improve the working conditions of its employees and to foster the medium/long-term well-being of its employees and respective communities. Over the years the Group has stipulated many supplementary agreements, especially in Italy, the United Kingdom and France, whereby it offers better benefits than those in the local collective bargaining agreements.

Thanks to the respect, dialogue and cooperation in place with Italian trade unions, no labor strikes occurred in the year, just as none occurred in 2017.

With regard to the working conditions of suppliers’ employees, the Company has identified the main risks related to its industrial supply chain. To mitigate those risks, the Prada Group has adopted a Qualified Vendor List (QVL) procedure, with which it defines the responsibilities and operational behaviors required in the assessment of ethical, technical and financial reliability. Specifically for ethical issues, the accreditation and maintenance of a supplier’s qualification are based on the collection of documents, statements and self-certifications that ensure compliance with the law on remuneration, social security, taxation, occupational health and safety, the environment, privacy and the governance model. Finally, the signing of the Code of Ethics is an essential prerequisite for working with Prada.

The Prada Group feels responsible for engaging in and cultivating virtuous behaviors that contribute to its sustainable growth and are examples of good practice within its industry.

Respect for the places where its facilities are located has been a guiding principle for the Prada Group from the start.
Reducing land take, renovating existing structures and working toward building requalification have inspired the decisions made in more than thirty years of industrial development. The Group completes its commitment to the reduction of its environmental footprint through responsible use of raw materials and packaging materials, and by making long-term investments in energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.

Prada’s manufacturing and storage facilities are an excellent example of its responsible relationship with the environment. These buildings occupy more than 200,000 m² and are located almost entirely in Italy. Five of them are new constructions, three are the products of industrial archeology projects, and many more have been converted from sites long abandoned and in obvious disrepair. For four of its largest industrial projects, Prada hired architect Guido Canali, Italy’s leading proponent of sustainable architecture. This relationship, initiated in the 1990s and still underway in a new, important phase, was developed while business ethics were being introduced voluntarily and spontaneously at a time in history in which the significance of adopting such values had not been realized yet. The Prada Valvigna factory, as well as the new logistic hub in Levanella, both in Tuscany, represent the synthesis of these principles: a structure that fits in well with the local environment, is capable of generating responsible and sustainable efficiency, and whose design is harmonious with its natural surroundings.

The energy-efficiency action plan has set into motion a number of measures, including the construction of 10 photovoltaic power stations, the gradual replacement of all air conditioning and cooling systems with latest-generation technology, a campaign for the complete, definitive coverage of all lit spaces with low-energy LED lamps, and the installation of technologies to improve the recording and consequential reduction of energy consumption.

These measures have earned the Group various certifications from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the world’s most widely used system for green building assessment) for its factories and stores.

On the renewable energy front, the Group is developing solar projects and buying electricity from traders that use certified renewable sources (100%).

Art, philosophy, architecture, literature and film are the main cultural disciplines that represent continuous sources of inspiration for the Group. The network of connections broadens horizons, subverting norms, boldly challenging expectations and shaping scenarios that deviate from the ordinary. Interaction with these apparently distant cultural spheres has led to a number of special projects that, over the years, have helped define the many facets of the Prada world.

Prada’s interest in architecture has always been evident in its aforementioned cutting-edge manufacturing sites, with the requalification and conversion of former factories into showrooms and offices, and development of revolutionary retail concepts.

One of its most notable recent projects is Rong Zhai, a historic residence in downtown Shanghai, which has become a flexible venue for the Group’s cultural events in China after a scrupulous, six-year restoration. The rehabilitation of Rong Zhai is the result of a fruitful partnership with Western architects, historians, and Chinese artisans and represents Prada’s interest in the restoration of historic buildings.

Throughout its history, Prada has been involved in many other projects of international scale, including collaborations with some of the most prestigious architecture firms in the world. In 2015 Herzog & de Meuron, winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, worked with the Group on the Miu Miu flagship store in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, core of the brand’s Japanese operations. A few years earlier, from 2000 to 2004, Herzog & de Meuron and another Pritzker Prize winner, Rem Koolhaas, had partnered with Prada on the Epicenter Concept Stores in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. These Epicenters, which continue to be a central part of Prada’s image, have been the result of innovative thinking about the shopping concept, revisited and reinvented in order to create unique stores, where luxury goods, technology, design and architecture combine seamlessly with a vast range of exclusive services and sensory and audiovisual experiences. On occasion, the Epicenters host movie screenings, exhibitions, debates and other cultural events.

Since 1993, the interests and passions of Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli have led the Prada Group to sponsor Fondazione Prada’s activities in the fields of art and culture. Fondazione Prada was set up in Milan as a space for contemporary art exhibitions as well as projects in architecture, cinema and philosophy.
By 2010 the Fondazione had staged 24 solo shows in Milan devoted to important Italian and international artists. Since 2011, the Fondazione has also operated at the eighteenth-century Venetian palace in Ca’ Corner della Regina, where it has hosted seven research fairs and an experimental project dedicated to cinema. In 2018 “Machines à penser” was hosted, curated by Dieter Roelstrate, who explored the connections among philosophy, art and architecture.

The 2018 exhibition program of the Fondazione’s permanent venue in Milan, inaugurated in 2015 and designed by architecture firm OMA, included “Post Zang Tumb Tuuum. Art Life Politics: Italia 1918–1943”, conceived by Germano Celant as an exploration of the system of art and culture in Italy in the period between the two World Wars, “Sanguine. Luc Tuymans on Baroque”, in which the Belgian artist offered an original interpretation of the Baroque based on associations between works by contemporary artists and Old Masters, the final sequence of “Slight Agitation” with site-specific works by Brazilian author Laura Lima. “The Next Quasi-Complex”, an immersive exhibition conceived by German artist John Bock completed the program.

In the outdoor area of the Milan venue, Fondazione Prada offered the musical project, “I WANT TO LIKE YOU BUT I FIND IT DIFFICULT”, a series of three events curated by Craig Richard in which both well-known and emerging artists explored a variety of genres and music. Since May 2018 Fondazione Prada Cinema, opened every weekend, has offered a program showcasing new releases, classics, experimental and avant-garde features, and rare and restored films. Film festivals have also been organized with selections by artists like Damien Hirst, Theaster Gates and Luc Tuymans, and conversations with directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Spike Lee and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg.

The Osservatorio, a photography exhibition center opened in December 2016 in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, hosted the exhibitions “Torbjørn Rødland: The Touch That Made You” and “The Black Image Corporation”, curated by artist Theaster Gates.

Miuccia Prada’s personal interest in cinema, as a contemporary form of art, has led to other invaluable collaborations such as the sixteen short films produced up to December 2018 entitled “The Miu Miu Women’s Tales”, in which directors of international fame and different intellectual backgrounds explored the world of women. Moreover, interaction with the world of cinema has created various other partnerships with internationally renowned film directors, such as “The Delivery Man” (2018), created and directed by Ryan Hope and interpreted by Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons, “Past Forward” (2016) by Academy Award winner David O. Russell, “A Therapy” (2012) by Roman Polanski, and “Thunder Perfect Mind” (2006) by Jordan and Ridley Scott.

Last, but not least, in the area of high-profile sports, the Luna Rossa team sponsored by the Prada Group was a challenger in the America’s Cup sailing yacht races of 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2013, winning the challenger selection regattas in 2000 and reaching the finals in 2007 and 2013. Having benefited from this experience, which made a huge contribution to the commercial success of the leisure clothing and footwear lines and raised visibility of the Prada brand around the world, the Group has again secured the role of main sponsor of the Luna Rossa sailing team for the 36th America’s Cup.