Earlier this month Prada & Company dropped hints about a relaunch to their limited edition sports wear brand Prada Linea Rossa. The line originated in 1997 as a collaboration between Prada and a German sailing team entering the America’s Cup competition, and from this Prada Linea Rossa was born.
Last night Prada relaunched the heritage line at their flagship store in Soho during New York Fashion Week. Everyone from The Great Khalid to Robbie Rogers made an appearance.
A big relaunch of Prada Linea Rossa specifically signals that the traditional fashion house is invested in a ready-to-wear ‘sports wear’ line but tentatively at a “capsule collection” production level – just in case the sports wear trend fizzles out.
The challenge Prada intends to conquer is releasing a new look in what is already a saturated market dominated by brand’s like Off-White. This is where Prada Linea Rossa comes in. Prada is branding a sailing sports wear line.
Prada hopes to tap into the popularity of hip hop music and the swag of New York street wear gods like A$AP Rocky to attract the next generation of wealthy yachtsmen.
It’s not that far fetched. Young racing yachtsmen like Blair Tuke love street wear and hip hop just like everyone else. And like all influencers, popularity sells clothes.
Just last year at the America’s Cup, Tuke and members from Team NZ hopped on stage with rapper David Dallas rhyming in tune with the young Auckland hip hop star.
As for the collection, if you take a close look at the new Prada Linea Rossa line it is easily recognizable, its completely the same actually. The small collection of 90s style sportswear is made up of simple box shape windbreakers, padded coats, sneakers and eye wear we’ve seen from Prada’s past, down to the original Prada logo.
The futuristic advancements are in the materials – the collection features technical fabrics for protection, insulation and temperature regulation. Brands like Nike already use such tech fabrics in their sports wear lines and Alexander Wang in his popular street wear line. In a way Prada is catching up to the future.
The commerci-ability of the Prada Linea Rossa line is definitely the bold color palette. The bright neon colors are super pop. It makes the collection younger and trendier which will attract a broader Generation Z market.
Clearly Prada is banking on Prada Linea Rossa as they cast for a brighter future.
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