Prada Doubles Down on Its Ties With 37th America’s Cup by Opening Temporary Shop at Barcelona’s Marina
MILAN — As the sports world turns its eyes to Barcelona for the Louis Vuitton Cup on Thursday — the last leg in the preliminary regattas leading up to the 37th America’s Cup — Prada is aiming to ride the event’s visibility with retail activations.
In addition to hitting the Barcelona waters with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC75 foiling monohull, the Italian luxury brand is opening a temporary boutique at the city’s Marina Port Vell harbor.
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The 1,290-square-foot boutique — decked outside in a pattern that combines Prada’s triangle logo in light green — boasts large windows overlooking the marina. Its decor aligns with the blueprint of global Prada stores, with signature black-and-white checkered marble flooring, rosewood furniture and pastel carpeting.
The store will carry a selection of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as exclusive products. These include cashmere jackets, skirts and jumpsuits, leather skirts, sailor-themed coats and jackets, as well as georgette and sablé garments exclusive to the location embellished with floral embroideries and bows. Zeroing in on the use of luxurious fabrics, the men’s offering comprises cashmere outerwear and knitwear, as well as technical gabardine suits.
It will remain open through the end of October, the duration of the America’s Cup.
Furthering its link with the 37th America’s Cup, the brand will also mount a site-specific display at its flagship in Barcelona facing Paseo de Gracia, aimed at celebrating the sailing competition and the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team via the signature America’s Cup sneakers.
Debuted in 1997 for the Luna Rossa team, the footwear design was introduced in Prada’s fashion lineup in 1999 and is regarded as one of the seminal examples of the luxury sneaker trend.
Defined by their leather and mesh upper, puffy rubberized sole with rounded edges and two red lines running down the heel and the tongue, they are part of the Prada Linea Rossa technical collection of high-performance apparel and accessories.
In addition to a selection of the sneakers — which were reintroduced on the Prada runway for fall 2018 in a revamped design and then reissued in their original version in 2021 — the Barcelona flagship is to carry a special selection of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli ready-to-wear and accessories, a line named after Prada’s sailboat.
On Thursday, the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team will hit the water again after a few days’ break for the Round Robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
In the final preliminary regatta, which ended last Sunday, the Italian team scooped the second spot after four high-adrenaline sailing days, which saw it eventually lose against defender Emirates Team New Zealand.
The 37th America’s Cup, which stretches until Oct. 27, marks Luna Rossa’s seventh challenge, but sixth race. The team withdrew from the competition in 2015 after disagreeing with the overturning of rules that had been unanimously adopted the previous year by the then-Cup holder the Oracle Team of the U.S.
The Luna Rossa sailing team was established in 1997 by Prada Group chairman Patrizio Bertelli with the original name of “Prada Challenge for the America’s Cup 2000.” The team won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, with a record of 38 victories over 49 races. It also competed in 2003 and in 2007, when it reached the Louis Vuitton Cup final.
In 2021 Luna Rossa won the Challenger Selection Series, the Prada Cup, but lost to contender Emirates Team New Zealand, which succeeded in defending the 36th America’s Cup with a 7-to-3 victory over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, wrecking the latter’s ambition to take the trophy home.
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