DALLAS, Nov 22, 2004/ FW/ --- Her name is synonymous with fashion. Around the turn of the millennium, the Wall Street Journal named her as the “Most Influential Woman in Europe.” Her name is Miuccia Prada, and she has been fashion’s darling for the past two decades.

The story began in 1913, when Mario Prada, Miuccia’s grandfather, established Fratelli Prada, a leather goods store catering to the rich and influential. The business stayed within the family, and in 1978, it was Miuccia’s turn to run it.

She did not have any formal training in design. In fact, she is an intellectual; her PhD in Political Science proves that. And somewhere along the way, during her university years, though born in a capitalist family, she subscribed to Marxism.

Apparently, Karl Marx went out the window when she started running the family business and eventually meeting her business partner and soul mate, Patrizio Bertelli, an entrepreneur. Together, they expanded Prada into Prada Holdings N.V., with the Jil Sander and Helmut Lang brands in its stable.

How do you marry a Marxist past and a capitalist future? In an interview with the London Telegraph, Miuccia Prada answered the question.

"I have so many bigger problems than that! "In terms of democracy and in terms of what clever things you can do in real life," Miuccia told the London Telegraph.

And when asked if she could produce $50 skirts compared to $500 ones, one “more suited to her political persuasions,” Miuccia explained to the London Telegraph, “"I could do it. It would be interesting to do things with no money. But if you manufacture in Europe, because your country is there, everything you touch is expensive. We could make a lot more money if we produced in other countries, but it would be dishonorable of me to do that."

A very patriotic sentiment, a facet of personality that had not been seen before. We have always associated Miuccia with her minimalist designs that her forward-looking eye for fashion, that we just see her as a fashion designer.

Speaking of designs, the Prada Spring 2005 collection shown in Milan last September defied several trends and introduced a new one.

First, Miuccia proposed mini-skirts, approximately 6 inches above the knee. While other designers from New York, London, Milan and Paris went for hemlines just reaching the knees, Miuccia Prada raised the ante.

She also did a 180-degree turn from her futuristic look for Fall 2004. For Spring 2005, the Prada women’s feet are firmly planted on earth with birds and flowers as her companions.

And she will be wearing lots of hats to go with the always-beautiful Prada handbags and totes.

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