Pradasphere promotional image
Italian fashion brand Prada will host a takeover of London department store Harrods through the month of May.
The in-store experience, opening May 2, includes a pop-up shop, an exhibit, a café and window displays that educate consumers about the brand’s connection to art and pop culture. Through these displays across the store, Harrods will be able to bring Italy into its doors and Prada will spread awareness for its history and cultural projects.
“Harrod’s is saying, ‘We are the shop where fashion, art and experience meet,’” said Marie Driscoll, CEO and chief consultant of Driscoll Advisors, New York.
“Prada is a very artistic brand that is a commercial success as well,” she said. “This takeover with its art and motion picture cred is a nuanced brand strategy that is as much about marketing and attracting new customers as it is about shopping transactions today.”
Ms. Driscoll is not affiliated with Prada or Harrods but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Harrods and Prada were unable to comment directly before press deadline.
Milan meets London
The central display dubbed the “Pradasphere” will be located on the fourth floor of Harrods. It investigates how the core themes of beauty, taste, embellishment, gender, vanity and power appear throughout Prada’s work in fashion, film, art and other artistic endeavors.
Pradasphere at Harrods
Glass display cases hold archival pieces from the house’s 100-year history and fabric samples. Shoes and bags are organized by theme.
Pradasphere at Harrods
There is also a wall dedicated to the brand’s history, which connects the fashion produced by the brand to its other projects, including Fondazione Prada. In a separate room consumers can view films created for the brand including Wes Anderson, Ridley Scott and Roman Polanski as well as browse publications.
A lounge area sits next to the exhibit, with the brand’s Clover Leaf sofas, which Verner Panton created for Prada based on his classic design. Similar pieces were on display in Prada’s Milan boutique during home furnishing show Salone del Mobile (see story).
Also on the fourth floor is the Marchesi Café, modeled after a Milan patisserie founded in 1824.
Marchesi Café at Harrods
On Harrods’ first floor, a pop-up shop will sell women’s leather goods, accessories, jewelry and eyewear. The floor of the pop-up mimics Prada’s Milan boutique, with black and white checkered marble.
Steel and crystal fixtures and lavender velvet ottomans round out the iconic Prada styling of the pop-up.
On the street, 40 windows will also reference classic Prada taste in interior design, with marble floors and green walls. The panes will tell the story of Prada’s attitude toward fashion as well as its influence in the art world.
Prada windows at Harrods
Pradasphere will be open until May 29.
Before the display opened, Harrods gave consumers a taste of Pradasphere through close up shots of the exhibit on Twitter, highlighting a single pair of shoes or a bag.
Tweet from Harrods
Prada also piqued consumer interest by sharing three photos of window displays on its Facebook.
Department store branding
Prada has previously brought its own aesthetic to a department store through a temporary redecoration.
French department store Printemps enlisted Italian fashion house Prada to give its Paris location’s holiday windows a high-fashion touch.
The display, entitled “A Joyful Obsession,” was a colorful creation that was classically Christmas with visual elements that evoked the Prada brand, including a bold black and white checkerboard pattern and teddy bears. The windows allowed Prada to acquaint more people with the brand’s image and aesthetic in a memorable, joyous way (see story).
Harrods gives brands a platform to tell their story, providing exhibition space and opening up its windows to individual labels.
For instance, Russian jeweler Fabergé raised awareness of its heritage with an Easter-themed takeover of British department store Harrods.
Fabergé-themed windows in the retailer told the house’s history, while a pop-up shop hosted jewelry pieces and an interactive online platform in-store let consumers virtually try on merchandise and share the video on social media. This takeover let Harrods benefit from the buzz surrounding Fabergé during the Easter season, and it gave Fabergé a larger audience to share its history (see story).
Because of Prada’s credibility within the fashion industry, this event will likely draw foot traffic.
“In addition to the Harrods customer, which includes a strong Middle Eastern and international tourist clientele, this event should attract fashionistas, and Miuccia’s loyal followers and Prada brand advocates that might normally steer clear of the the pandemonium of Harrods,” Ms. Driscoll said. “Prada is seeding future demand among the tourist set that visit Harrods.
“Both the brand and the store should benefit from this event.”
Final Take
Sarah Jones, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York