Prada held its Resort 2019 show in The Piano Factory—the house’s own New York headquarters—on May 4, timed perfectly to sunset. This setting is mostly unknown to the general public, but became the platform for a serious transformation, entrusted to Herzog & de Meuron by the fashion brand in 2000. Stripping the space down to the naked concrete structure, concrete pillars became powerful remnants of sculptural beauty.
The show took place on the seventh floor, the setting open and empty as possible, save for large floating panels that reflected the size of the space’s windows. The semi-transparent panels reflected the cityscape, and like the windows, brought New York into the heart of the show. Projections of other cityscapes and the models gracing the runway, brought together an organic and industrial feel, combining analogue and virtual realities.
The panels were arranged to either allow or block out the setting daylight, creating sequences of reflection and transparency, light and dark. With sunset at 7:55PM, the color of the room changed from dark silver, to red, and black, bringing to life an “augmented sunset.”
Following the Prada Resort 2019 fashion show in the brand’s Piano Factory headquarters in New York, Miuccia Prada hosted a celebratory dinner. In attendance Sunday night were Alexa Chung, Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Nicola Peltz, Anwar Hadid, Poppy Delevingne, Ellis Ross, Uma Thermanand bloggers Bryanboyand Susie Lau.