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How to Get Original Prada Prototypes

Looks from Prada’s spring/summer 08 show.Photo: imaxtree


We know we said earlier that Donatella Versace’s going to the White House Correspondents Dinner was like Christmas in April, but another contender for inspiring that sort of joy just surfaced. On Tuesday Prada will start auctioning off original prototypes from the spring/summer 2008 collection. That means they could have been all over the body of Sasha Pivovarova or have been touched by Miuccia’s very own hands. The very thought kind of makes our spine tingle. Each Tuesday for three weeks starting April 15 the label will auction off a different batch of items online. The first Tuesday you can bid on three trouser prototypes; two bags and a pair of shoes will go up the next week; and the third week four skirts go up (let’s hope one will be in the same print as Anna Wintour’s favorite Prada dress). Proceeds from the auction go to the San Raffaele Foundation, an Italian institution concerned with medical research, clinical work, and training. One thing to keep in mind: If you want to wear this stuff and not just collect, the pieces are probably going to be very, very small. (Like we said: They had to fit Sasha.) Details on how to bid after the jump.

The prototypes, ten unique pieces in total split between women’s clothes and
accessories, will be auctioned each Tuesday on a weekly basis. Those going on-line
will have seven days to get their favourite item: three trouser prototypes will be
available from April 15 at midday, one bag and two pairs of boots from April 22, the
third week offering four skirts.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the San Raffaele Foundation, one of the most
important Italian institutions concerned with medical research, clinical work and
training.

The auction offers bidders the chance to interact with Prada and other on-line users,
uploading their own photos and promoting their own Internet site. A graphic allows
one to track the history of bids made for each item.

THE LOTS
The prototypes are part of the work that went into the development of the
Spring/Summer 2008 collections, using unusual colours in an imaginative print
which conjures up an intense landscape of carnivorous flowers, dragons, hybrid
creatures and mysterious nymphs.

The ready-to-wear items are made in Gazar, a heavy organza, popular in Haute
Couture of the Fifties. The twenty colour per square printing process ensures a more
precise and richer result than with the more normal ten colour print.

The accessories, which reprise the same unusual themes are unique prototypes made
specifically for the auction, in plum and antique pink coloured doeskin, with
printing using a inkjet process, before finally being rubbed down to obtain a shiny
effect.

How to Get Original Prada Prototypes