Prague wears Prada. The two-storey shop of the luxury fashion brand Prada on the corner of Pařížská and Vězeňská has been open for two months now and is already showing positive results.
The Italian fashion house opened one of its largest European stores in Prague at the time of the economic crisis when luxury brands like Escada or Christian Lacroix are facing bankruptcy and other ones admitting decline in customer numbers. “We have nothing to worry about. We believe that Prague has long been prepared for the luxury products of Prada. Therefore we decided enter the Czech market in a big way,” said Prada’s global marketing and communication director Stefano Cantino.
While the majority of world-class luxury brands that come to Prague start with a small boutique with accessories and only then expand their production line, Prada decided to enter the local market directly with its full-scale product portfolio. The store with an area of 750 square metres features shoes, accessories, jewelry, perfumes, women’s and men’s streetwear clothing as well as evening dresses.
“Many were surprised. But the first sales figures confirm that we made the right decision, the Czech market is very dynamic,” said Cantino. He said Prague is an ideal place for further expansion of the brand, which currently earns around EUR 1.7 billion in revenues worldwide. “Our goal is to become a leader in central Europe. We’d like to open stores, for example, in Warsaw and Budapest,” he said.
