Initiated in the 1980s, the Pocono has brought Prada into the modern era, while projecting fashion into the era of it-bags,

Prada, A House In Perpetual Reinvention

When Miuccia Prada inherited the house founded by her grandfather in 1978, she did not hesitate to put it on the path of modernization. Taking fashion with it to unexplored territories.

“I have always wanted to mix industrial ways of producing things with past heritage, with artisanal tradition. “

The Bag That Changed Prada

It was in 1984 that Miuccia Prada revolutionized home, fashion and leather. The secret of this revolution is a bag. The Vela bag, more exactly. A style of backpack available initially in black and brown, which happens to be worked in nylon specially designed and imagined by Prada. A water resistant nylon called Pocono.

Marked with a distinctive Prada metal seal, but without its logo, the bag clashes with the very history of the Prada house, which, it must be remembered, was the leather goods manufacturer of the Italian royal family.

A luxury bag cut from nylon took the boldness of Prada’s pretty ugly concept to impose on the world. Because the Vela is very different from the shiny and bling bags of the time.

Nylon as a material was then used for military tents, and Prada had just brought fashion into the era of it-bags. It became the bag that redefined the very terms of luxury.

The Vela would become the best-selling bag of an era, and signaled the Prada turn for the avant-garde!

“Suddenly, nylon seemed more intriguing to me than Haute Couture fabrics. I decided to bring him into the spotlight and he challenged, if not changed, the traditional and conservative idea of ​​luxury. I’m still obsessed with it, ”says Miuccia Prada years later.

And it is true that the Pocono has never gone unnoticed.

Pocono, Iconic Prada Material

For the fall 1994 collection, Miuccia Prada took the Pocono out of the Vela bag to spread all the cachet in quite luxurious silhouettes.

It was this collection that spread the concept of ugly chic… Jackets and vests, dresses and skirt-tailored sets… This collection was enough to make Pocono the iconic material of Prada. An ingenious and astonishing material which marries perfectly the diversion of the codes of the upper bourgeoisie.

And the modern history of Prada is undoubtedly linked to that of Nylon Pocono. It was in 1980 that she had the idea to develop this material a little less snobbish, and less off-putting than high-quality leather … Durable, waterproof, practical and daring … Critics rejoice; the fashion world is in turmoil – and the Pocono becomes essential.

Its message too – today we are hijacking the materials and conventions of luxury. At the origin of the monochrome look, the Pocono accompanied minimalism, both in the cut and in the monochrome … A minimalism born in response to the maximalism of the 80s.

And we can see the quirky but timeless elegance of the Pocono. For Fall / Winter 2018/19, Prada praised this key material that has made the house a fashion pantheon.

“I have a mortal passion for nylon. Nylon is the emblem of an industrial aspect and when we started to make it, it was completely new, “said Miuccia Prada backstage at her men’s show in January 2019.

Clean lines, luxurious fabrics and avant-garde athleisure. The history of Prada is also that of Pocono and Linea Rossa …

A material that has made Prada a highly coveted name and style.