Miuccia Prada - Designer, Co-Creative Director of Prada & Creative Director of Miu Miu

She sounds confused - Like a follower, not a leader.
Giving too much attention to what everyone else is doing.
 
Via WWD:

Prada’s Patrizio Bertelli on Size, China, Not Selling Brands and Store Experience

Luisa Zargani
March 11, 2021·10 min read

MILAN — Patrizio Bertelli is not a seller.

Prada’s chief executive officer is not new at making this kind of statement, having shut down rumors of a sale of the luxury group he leads several times over the years. But on Wednesday, Bertelli repeated the vow during a conference call with analysts held to comment on the group’s 2020 performance.

Asked about the lackluster performance of Car Shoe and Church’s, controlled by the Prada Group, at a time when mergers and acquisitions activity is heating up in footwear, and whether he would consider selling them, Bertelli responded: “We are not selling anything; if something happens we’ll be buying not selling.”

He explained that “of course, [Car Shoe and Church’s] suffered more than the other brands for the very simple reason of their size,” and because they are “typically European products.” Also, he noted, “it was impossible to organize e-commerce distribution suitably for them. So, the smaller a brand, the more it suffered last year. Because these brands don’t have a distribution network in countries like China, for instance, which is actually where the market picked up quicker than others in the second half of 2020.”

Bertelli’s observations point to several key factors that contributed to Prada navigating 2020 and weathering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to offset the consequences of the global lockdowns and travel restrictions, with an acceleration in the second half. These factors included Prada’s strength in Asia, the improved digitalization of the company and a retail recovery outside of Europe.

The Italian luxury group reported a recovery starting in May last year, reaching full retail recovery in October and December compared with the same months of 2019. Business was also lifted by Prada’s digital evolution as the company reinforced its omnichannel strategy, seeing sales from the e-commerce channel tripling from 2019 levels. Sales in Mainland China climbed 52 percent in the second half of 2020.

While Prada reported a net loss in the year, the group saw a full recovery in the second half to pre-pandemic profitability levels, allowing it to close 2020 with an operating profit.

In 2020, the net loss totaled 54 million euros. This compares with net profits of 256 million euros in 2019, but that figure was lifted by the Patent Box tax benefit. In the second half of last year, Prada registered a net profit of 126 million euros.

In the 12 months ended Dec. 31, revenues totaled 2.42 billion euros, down 24.8 percent compared with 3.22 billion euros in 2020. Sales in the second half decreased 8 percent compared with the same period the previous year.

However, despite all the attention paid to digital, Bertelli in his staple, no-nonsense way firmly underscored that “e-commerce doesn’t make sense without physical stores. I think it’s just an illusion that e-commerce may thrive without some brick-and-mortar stores.”

He contended that luxury consumers “need some physical experience, too and not just online. They need to go to the source and look at product presentation. So they need to come in the stores and touch [the merchandise].”

This means presentation and service must be of the highest quality and targeted and personalized to engage customers — who are increasingly local and in the second half of the year almost fully offset the absence of tourists, he noted. Last year, Prada launched special initiatives creating about 80 installations including pop-ups and dedicated installations, 50 of which were in the second half.

Bertelli and chairman Carlo Mazzi touted Prada’s business model rooted in Italy, which entails direct control over production, so that the country’s manufacturing shutdown during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy was limited to five weeks last year, allowing for continuous deliveries of merchandise to the stores, preventing excess inventory.

“Direct control of the supply chain and distribution channels combined with a focus on digital communication are the pillars of positive future prospects, and an encouraging start to 2021 in spite of continuing restrictions in an environment that is still uncertain,” said Bertelli, which led Mazzi to say that the group “is well positioned to capture long term-growth.”

“We successfully reached a good level of profitability and generated significant cash flow, improving our financial position,” said Bertelli. “These results give us confidence to face the upcoming rebound, as soon as the most critical phase of the pandemic will end.”

Last year, operating profit amounted to 20 million euros, compared with 307 million euros in 2019. However, in the second half operating profit totaled 216 million euros.

At the end of December, retail sales amounted to 2.11 billion euros, down by 32 percent in the first half although this reduced to a 6 percent decrease in the second half of the year, hence an 18 percent drop over the year.

Around 18 percent of the network was closed on average during the year, affected by the lockdowns. Chief financial officer Alessandra Cozzani said the retail performance was “flat on 2019, but up mid-single digit on 2020. We are operating with 130 stores still closed so it’s a huge number.”

The wholesale channel showed a 49 percent decrease at constant exchange to 275 million euros, as a consequence of Prada’s decision to streamline its distribution. Wholesale sales were down 20 percent in the second half. The channel accounted for 11 percent of total sales. Bertelli expects the wholesale strategy to boost operating margins and for gross margin to represent 78 percent of sales in two years, from the current 72 percent, which improved by 100 basis points in the second semester reaching 73 percent versus the same period of last year. This is a trend that is going to be “anywhere in between the performance of 2019 and the performance of the second half of 2020.”

“In terms of EBIT, it will be pretty challenging until June, but likely to become easier after that,” Bertelli added. “The trend in the first two months of this year points to a similar one in the other nine months,” he offered, expecting ongoing progress and advances.

Bertelli stood by the rationalization strategy started back in 2019, which led to giving up on about 250 million euros in revenues last year, but the company was “on the safe side as far as trade receivables were concerned.”

The executive touted the group’s creative leadership as “a reference point and benchmark in the international luxury market,” noting growing appreciation by consumers and trumpeting the appointment of Raf Simons as co-creative director last year. The fashion shows designed by Miuccia Prada and Simons “were highly appreciated and the new collections are responding very well in stores. The investments in digital besides marketing and communication to create an authentic and direct dialogue with our audiences are helping to strengthen the visibility of our brand.”

The CEO also said that the public talks held by Simons and Miuccia Prada at the end of each fashion show “were highly appreciated, both by the press and by the public.”

Bertelli also discussed the group’s price positioning, saying it had been corrected, with “quite significant improvement,” noting that he was “partially satisfied because we actually recovered something which we had underestimated in the past. I need to point out that the price positioning is not just given from increasing prices onto two products, but also we modified our product offer. We are providing products that have a higher perceived value and so they can command a higher price point.”

In 2020, sales in Europe fell 35 percent to 561 million euros, heavily impacted by the absence of tourists and by prolonged lockdowns. The company said that around 30 percent of the stores were closed during the year. Strong local consumption was seen in every country, including a 46 percent sales growth in Russia.

Sales in Asia Pacific rose 1 percent to 914 million euros, with 19 percent growth seen in the second half of the year, mainly driven by Mainland China, which was up 52 percent; Taiwan, up 61 percent, and Korea, up 22 percent.

Revenues in the Americas decreased 17 percent to 291 million euros, growing 4 percent in the second half of the year. This includes an outstanding performance in Brazil, which grew throughout the year.

Sales in Japan were down 28 percent to 272 million euros, heavily impacted by the lack of tourists and prolonged store closures in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan, said Cozzani. Local consumption improved in the second part of year.

Revenues in the Middle East dropped 12 percent to 78 million euros, but rose 26 percent in the second half.

Lorenzo Bertelli, head of marketing and CSR, said the company will continue to target triple-digit e-commerce sales and that it was further strengthening its omnichannel, enhancing the group’s platform.

“I want to underline we’re just at the beginning of our growth trajectory and that there is still a huge potential to unlock. We have leveraged more ways of staying connected with clients through our social media platform both in the West and especially in China and our brand heat us is growing successfully,” he said. “We have used with our fashion shows innovative ways to drive engagement and brand excitement and adopted a more accessible style of communication that has brought new forms of interaction with the brand and made it available to new audiences.” He noted a younger demographic was increasingly attracted to the group’s products.

Prada ranked third on Instagram in the second half, according to Sprinklr, he said, and website traffic grew 74 percent in the second half, according to Adobe Analytics. Prada ranked third on Weibo in the second half, according to Sprinklr.

The hashtag #PradaSS21 on Weibo hit 170 million views in one day. Miu Miu’s spring 2021 fashion show was the third most mentioned brand at Paris Fashion Week and reported triple-digit growth in views on Instagram compared with the spring 2020 season.

“I’m proud to announce that the full conversion to regenerated nylon by the end of 2021 is on track despite the difficult times,” he also said.

Asked about Luna Rossa, which won the Prada Cup in February and is competing in the finals of the America’s Cup, he said, “We believe that in this moment this is a very important pillar for us because if we’ve been contacted by Adidas and we are relevant when we go to talk about sports with some suppliers and do collaboration in the sports, it’s because of our credibility, because 20 years ago my father started [the Luna Rossa sailing boat project]. So without this kind of credibility, we would not be strong in the sports world.” At a time when experience and storytelling are increasingly relevant, Luna Rossa is the “perfect match,” he said and one that can “unlock the potential of [apparel and accessories collection] Linea Rossa.”

Bertelli also touted the success of the Upcycled by Miu Miu project, a special collection of vintage dresses transformed according to Miu Miu’s aesthetic codes, revealing the brand will collaborate with Levi’s in 2021.

The leather goods category, which accounted for 56 percent of sales, saw double-digit growth in the second half of the year in Asia, the U.S, and the Middle East. Ready-to-wear at both Prada and Miu Miu resumed growth in the second half of the year. The division represented 26 percent of total sales. Footwear also recovered in the second half, and accounted for 17 percent of revenues in the year.

Prada, whose sales were down 17 percent last year, accounted for 84 percent of revenues. Miu Miu declined 22 percent and represented 14 percent of total sales. Church’s fell 47 percent and accounted for 1 percent of revenues.
 
Katie Grand did Miu Miu so dirty...I know many economic and social factors are at play but you cannot tell me 5 years of lazy and ugly shows didn't contribute to the brand's decline. It used to be Paris fun, lolita-ish golden brooch and from one season to the next it started looking like your grandma's curtains had sex with a muppet.
 
Prada is truly struggling because they don't have a look to the regular public. I assume that's what Katie Grand was trying to do because now people associate that striped scarf with Prada when Prada previously was only associated with shoes and nylon bags. pleated skirts and blouses are not a 'look'.

People are watching their spending even more these days os when they go to buy a leather bag that is 3k they will go with a couture house that has many iconic looks that are in the public domain over prada which is viewed as very overpriced to non fashion people. I know they did a price cut but they still need to drop their prices a little.

Miu Miu needs to be the same price point as Theory and be a depatment store line.

IDk what car shoe is i forgot about them totally and i didnt know Prada owned churchs? car shoe should just do an collab with an italian f1 driver and call it a day. i hope they dont add clothes to car shoe...
 
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I agree I think they do need to lower their prices. I know it's luxury goods and clothing but I think they've gotten a little bit delusional with who they think they are and what they're doing. They want to keep the price as high as they can to retain a certain amount of prestige while also being able to make a profit. However where they've put themselves right now is so out of reach. Ex. those Margiela-y doll clothes coats from FW21 appeared to be a staple they tried to make iconic for the season, and they are 9-$10k each. I know markup can be 100-200% from wholesale, but it doesn't take a genius to objectively understand that the materials paired with a completely basic cutting pattern do not equate to that price even with the Prada name attached. Those coats really should be around $5000. And this goes for every single piece in their RTW. All other coats/jackets for FW21 are around 4-$8k. **Machine** knits are all around $2k. Mind you their newer target audience is not their client from 10 years ago. It's the younger generation who are willing to blow their savings on whatever they can take pictures with. And I know they make most of their money on bags/shoes/whatever and their runway is their marketing schtick, but if they lowered their price point for RTW, they would be making astronomical amounts of money while keeping their prestige I can guarantee. I was gonna buy that yellow corduroy coat just purely out of being a bored moron consumer but the price is just too stupid for what it's worth in both physical and artistic value.
 
The largest takeaways from this are the operating income figures, free cash flow, inventory levels, and Levi's collaboration with Miu Miu.

First, hearing that Prada finished the year in the green with their operating income is refreshing. I did not think for a second back in March of 2020 they could possibly post an EOY profit given all the lockdowns. Seeing the declining sales throughout America and Europe, the fact they have a positive free cash flow speaks to the importance they placed on growing their position in China and the success they achieved unlike Celine for instance.

Most importantly- to me at least- is how they are managing their inventory levels. Again, seeing as Italy's first lockdown lasted over a month- I was quite surprised to see they were able to continue to deliver goods around the world. Excess inventory is such an understated problem and has been the downfall of retailers and fashion houses alike. Lastly, from a business perspective, I understand the Levi's and Miu Miu collaboration, but my fear is it dilutes Prada's sister line. What could we possibly see? A MM flannel jacket? MM X Levi denim? It is quite confusing.

Prada's stock is up over 130% compared to March 20, 2020. The recovery was a long one, but I believe the future looks fairly bright from a business stance. Bertelli if you are reading this, please sell of Church's and Car Shoe, besides positioning, I do not see any benefit or meaningful contribution to the top line.


Anyway thanks Benn98 for posting. I hope 2021 is a great year for Miuccia and her label.
 
He does have a good point about brick-and-mortar stores, but I am convinced that Prada has long past its peak and it's very unlikely that they are going to have a rebound in the future.
 
^Prada has grown far too large without having actually implemented strategies that could mantain a healthy company in spite of the fluctuations of the market. The reality is that operating a brand this size with such a miopic vision of what constitutes perceived value, brand recognition and the like was bound to cripple them sooner or later.
 
^Prada has grown far too large without having actually implemented strategies that could mantain a healthy company in spite of the fluctuations of the market. The reality is that operating a brand this size with such a miopic vision of what constitutes perceived value, brand recognition and the like was bound to cripple them sooner or later.
Prada - to me - has always been a brand I only consider when I'm looking for fill-ins to my wardrobe. I own Prada but no 'full looks' like I do from other brands. I think most people would never wear head to toe Prada, which I guess is what Raf is trying to do? I think youre right that Prada fundamentally isn't set up to be a superstar brand like Versace and Dior.
 
As much as I adore Miuccia, she lost control over the creative force of the entire Prada. Today I was digging into menswear archive and to me at this point is shocking that having created collections from Fall 2010 to Fall 2016 she is now allowing RS to do what he did for Fall 2021. Another, rightfully pointed by you all above, is the price point which means that either they are completely delusional or hired someone with limited abilities to calculate. Either-or, I have already stopped believe in long and fruitful partnership. It will end by 2023.
 
The fact that Prada suffered during the industry's "gold rush" and is now pulling in double digit growth in the wake of its collapse is hilariously on brand.
The Scenario May Be Different, but Prada Group Continues to Grow
Group CEO Andrea Guerra said “sharpness of positioning, creativity and communication will be critical this year, when we will observe a different kind of market and trends."

By LUISA ZARGANI
APRIL 24, 2024, 2:09PM

MILAN
— The Prada Group continued to grow across all key regions and at its own stores in the first quarter of the year, but chief executive officer Andrea Guerra remains grounded.

Despite a 7 percent retail gain of the Prada brand and an 89 percent jump at Miu Miu, the executive said “a long journey is still ahead of us.”

During a call with analysts on Wednesday, Guerra said “sharpness of positioning, creativity and communication will be critical this year, when we will observe a different kind of market and trends. As anticipated, the rest of the year may see a nonlinear quarterly growth trajectory, but our ambition remains to deliver solid, sustainable and above-market growth.”

The Italian luxury company on Wednesday reported a sales increase of 11 percent to 1.18 billion euros in the three months ended March 31. This compares with 1.06 billion euros in the same period last year. At constant exchange rates, revenues grew 16 percent.

“Our group continues to make strategic progress as we invest for long-term, sustainable growth,” stated Patrizio Bertelli, Prada Group chairman and executive director. “Over the first quarter we delivered a solid performance in a more challenging market environment. In this context, we have to maintain flexibility and agility to respond to constantly evolving industry dynamics while continuing to innovate and invest across our business, leveraging the strength of our reinforced organization and the talent of our people.”

During the call, Guerra said the current trend is “similar to the past six to eight months,” adding that “growth is not constant but with sudden accelerations and decelerations. April is more or less like the first quarter,” and he underscored that “the second quarter last year was the largest one in terms of the percentage of growth.”

Guerra defined Prada as “an industry cultural shaper, that will be shaping the future.”

Chief financial officer Andrea Bonini said that a “priority is to invest in brand desirability, solid and sustainable growth, retail activations, infrastructure and the organization, continuing on the path of verticalization. Miu Miu is seeing an exceptional momentum, and there is more to do to strengthen its foundations.” He admitted it was “challenging to balance being dynamic, reactive and investing to take market shares while maintaining progressive margin expansion, but we reiterate our ambitions for 2024.”

When one analyst asked about rumors of a potential triple listing, both Bonini and Guerra chuckled at the notion. The former responded, saying that “a triple listing is not on the table and a double listing is on the agenda but not a priority due to other priorities. We are not in a position to give an update.”

The group did not break down sales by product category and, as analysts asked about this, both executives said that leather goods was the segment that grew the most from the last quarter of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024. This “in a world where the category has been sluggish” over the past year and into 2024, Guerra said. With leather goods, it’s key “to nurture icons and be bold with new styles.” He said the “traction is there” and that the new Prada Galleria bag launched 15 days ago, is sold out.

In the first quarter, the Prada brand registered a 7 percent gain in retail sales to 826 million euros and Miu Miu was up 89 percent to 233 million euros.

In the period, Prada experienced “solid and above-market growth against a high quarterly basis of comparison,” said Guerra, and “Miu Miu’s strong performance is a testament to the strategy and disciplined execution implemented over the past years.”

Group retail sales rose 12 percent to 1.07 billion euros compared with 953 million euros in the same period last year, driven by like-for-like and full-price volumes. At constant currency, retail sales were up 18 percent.

Guerra said the plan is to add 10 to 15 Miu Miu stores and five to 10 Prada stores in 2025.

Wholesale revenues slipped 1 percent to 90 million euros, compared with 91 million euros in the same period last year.

Royalties rose 22 percent to 25 million euros compared with 21 million euros last year, boosted by eyewear and fragrances.

Asked about the potential of the Prada beauty license with L’Oréal, which took effect in January 2021, Guerra said Prada eyewear is “the number one or two in eyewear in the world [with EssilorLuxottica], can this happen in beauty? Probably not, it’s an unbelievable long journey but so far it’s been well above our and L’Oréal’s expectations. Fragrances are moving fast, Luna Rossa for men and Paradoxe for women are escalating the ranks. We are not looking for the money but for a different moment and a different kind of consumer, more people entering at a different price level.”

A license with L’Oréal for Miu Miu products was signed in February.

Responding to an analyst wondering how the group could sustain the growth of Miu Miu, which could potentially reach sales of 1 billion euros at this pace, and keep up with the production and the demand, Guerra said “it’s a nice problem to have.”

He concurred with the analyst that it would “unrealistic” to expect the same pace of expansion for the brand. “To achieve profits that grow more than proportionally is an object. Obviously we are trying our best to make the growth structural, and the roots grow solidly, building on different nationalities, product categories and ages, with the same creative director with unbelievable creativity and a progressive attitude.”

Guerra added that Miu Miu is underrepresented in North America, although the strong growth trajectory was achieved across well-balanced geographies. “The brand is getting back its positioning but it is still a long journey.”

Miu Miu’s fall 2024 show contributed to “driving brand desirability further. Leather goods continued to be received very positively by clients, with both new lines [Ivy and Softy] and icons [Arcadie and Wander] performing well, also supported by dedicated campaigns,” the company said. In addition, Miu Miu’s collaborations with Church’s and New Balance “contributed to give further dynamism” to the identity of the brand.

At group level, all geographic markets showed retail sales growth. Asia Pacific was up 10 percent to 396 million euros despite the comparison with a quarter last year that saw the reopening of stores after the pandemic.

“Finally in this period the Chinese are traveling abroad, to Japan, Paris, Milan and more,” said Guerra when asked about this cluster. “They are more individuals traveling [rather than groups], in the upper side of the consumer base, they are not many but they are big spenders. They are spending more outside of China, but we are not back to 2019, there is a 20 to 30 percent gap versus 2019.” He also remarked on how spending is based on “tourism rhythm,” and not constant, as there was a slow start to the quarter “but then a great period of 45 days and a slowdown after Golden Week.”

Revenues in Europe rose 14 percent to 295 million euros, supported by both domestic and tourist spending. The Americas were up 4 percent to 181 million euros. “I have high expectation on the U.S.,” Guerra said.

He added that the group has been “serving more Chinese outside China and less Americans in the U.S.” Sales in Japan climbed 29 percent to 145 million euros, sustained by local consumption and increasingly by tourists. At constant exchange rates, sales in Japan jumped 46 percent. Revenues in the Middle East rose 15 percent to 54 million euros.
Source: WWD
 
Does anyone have a copy of the recent Vogue cover story on Miuccia?
 
The fact that Prada suffered during the industry's "gold rush" and is now pulling in double digit growth in the wake of its collapse is hilariously on brand.

Source: WWD
Indeed! I don't understand their success. I can't with how branded their products are... all with the triangle. Ew.

The growth of Miu Miu has been like... all of a f***** sudden! Unexplainable.
 
I do understand Miu Miu picking up - the logomania crossing over to there too is deeply annoying but the designs themselves aren't boring or a total retread of what Miuccia was doing 20 years ago (I will give her credit for this, she did not regurgitate her archives onto the runway when the curse of 'y2k revival' first appeared, unlike some much-hyped brands which did that but couldn't translate it to sales **coughblumarinecough**).
 
But the growth has been so unexpected and all of a sudden! I wonder why exactly? Did they invest a lot in Chinese influencers? My colleagues tell me they have an immense number of Chinese buyers in their boutiques, which was not the case before December/January. It was all in two months. I see their figures in a monthly basis and they were waaaaay behind some brands, and now their monthly revenue is waaaay superior to the one of those brands. Literally in two months. I was shocked.
 
But the growth has been so unexpected and all of a sudden! I wonder why exactly? Did they invest a lot in Chinese influencers? My colleagues tell me they have an immense number of Chinese buyers in their boutiques, which was not the case before December/January. It was all in two months. I see their figures in a monthly basis and they were waaaaay behind some brands, and now their monthly revenue is waaaay superior to the one of those brands. Literally in two months. I was shocked.
I think influencers is one of the factors. Indeed, Miu Miu is one of the hottest brands people are talking about in Chinese social media. But I have to give credit to the design team as well. Miu Miu has been picking up the momentum since the Spring Summer 2022 collection. And they keep that success formula for the recent few seasons: easy to wear, easy to digest and easy to imitate that particular style for many people. Their RTW is selling like hot cake in China market (partially because of the limited quantity I guess?). Also accessories are doing very well: several bags, and those over-priced sneakers collab with New Balance. Those style are very fashion-friendly to Chinese customers.
 
But the growth has been so unexpected and all of a sudden! I wonder why exactly? Did they invest a lot in Chinese influencers? My colleagues tell me they have an immense number of Chinese buyers in their boutiques, which was not the case before December/January. It was all in two months. I see their figures in a monthly basis and they were waaaaay behind some brands, and now their monthly revenue is waaaay superior to the one of those brands. Literally in two months. I was shocked.
The growth is "just" 100 millions ... from 130 to 230m. It's both massive and not that much at the same time. It really depends on how and where they invested in campaigns, influencers and retail space... To my knowledge they are also opening Miu Miu stores where there weren't previously. I think they converted a Prada one in Miu Miu in Venice Italy last september.
 
That’s doubling their size, for their scale it’s a lot. They were closing lot os POS after the covid and 2023 was super slow for them. They have been going downhill since 2015… 2024 came and boom! Crazy.

The fashion world never ceases to amaze me. One day you are the worst, next day you are are the best.
 

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