“WE ARE WORKING ON
THE WHOLE FEEL OF
IT, THE CONCEPT. IT’S
COMPLETELY CONSUMING”Pradasphere,
an exhibition
exploring the
Prada world,
in Hong Kong.
a different way of thinking. That’s why we
work with words.”
AV: “So what do you feel about an online
medium like Instagram?”
MR: “It makes me feel agitated. I like the
medium, it’s interesting, it’s pictures,
movement and words, but when you have a
13-year-old son and he’s on it ... I can’t go
on Twitter as it makes me think about how
I’m not connected with ... just all the stuff
that’s out there happening and I’m not
aware of it. It makes you feel agitated.”
AV: “So no references but surely you must
be moved by a film director that makes
beautiful movies?”
MR: “I’m much more about books. I like
a good novel, I like words.”
AV: “Favourite writer whose crafting of
words gives you a thrill?”MR: “If stuck – as you would know – you
go back to writers who inspired you, to
read their words, see how things are
constructed, communicated. I recently
read some of Joan Didion’s essays.”
AV: “We are very excited for this month’s
opening of the Fondazione, Prada’s
permanent exhibition space at Largo
Isarco. How involved are you?”
MR: “So involved, I’ve been involved
with the Fondazione Prada in Venice and
now we are right in the very middle of
working on the Fondazione Prada, which
opens in Milan. It houses Rem Koolhaas
structures within the pre-existing
distillery, and there are people like Roman
Polanski and Wes Anderson working on
pieces for the opening, but not necessarily
art. We are doing signposts, signage,working on the whole feel of it, the
concept. It’s completely consuming.”
AV: “What’s your role within this?”
MR: “I’m part of this dialogue. We email,
all of us, every day.”
AV: “W hat’s it like working so closely
with someone as brilliant and creative as
Miuccia Prada?”
MR: “It’s remarkable. She is so many
things: funny, questioning, direct, blunt.
We email, text, send packages,
communicate in so many ways but it’s a
constant conversation, and I think that’s
partly what makes her who she is and the
designer she is – it’s through ideas and
the way she interrogates the world and
what it means to her and to us. She is all
about the idea of her work, not necessarily
the graphic expression of her work.” ■A model of the
new Fondazione
Prada in Milan.Pradasphere
on show at
Harrods in London.
98 – MAY 2015vogue ARTS