Oh, Prada - Part 1

After recently visiting the Prada store in SoHo, New York City - I was blown away by the layout of the store; the architecture, the lighting and of course the curation of the visual merchandising which appeared more like a series of art installations exploring the ideas of contemporary high fashion.

As I eagerly skipped up the stairs off Broadway, pushed open the heavy glass doors to enter the design of architect Rem Koolhaas, I was instantly amazed by the sheer size of the store. It was like a dream coming to life, I had entered the Prada castle. What followed was a steep decline down a massive staircase which led to a lower level maze containing, well more mazes. Like a child (yes, a candy store) I explored every corner of the store and was overwhelmed by the amount of current season Prada threads that I was able to (carefully) caress. Through further reading I have since learnt that the store has also been home to various cultural events; musical performance and art exhibitions. I have also read that appropriately enough, the store is located in the space of the former Broadway Guggenheim, Ground Floor and Basient.

Floor plan of the upper level, with the staircases declining into the lower level and the platform which is used for visual merchandising.

I can't wait until the next time I visit the store. I don't doubt that the layout will be completely different, affording a complete new visual experience.


Photos of the Prada Store courtesy of http://www.oma.eu