Prada’s Most Popular Handbag Receives A Sustainable Makeover.

Prada’s most popular handbag of all time is a simple, black, finely woven, nylon handbag. It was the first true fashion statement from the brand. Inspired by military parachutes, the anti-luxury material appealed to the minimalist client for its practicality and offbeat design. When Prada launched the iconic bag in the mid-eighties it quickly became the most coveted bag in America.

Left, Adwoa Aboah with the Prada nylon fannypack, Right, Kendall Jenner with the classic Prada nylon shoulder bag. (photo: courtesy)

Since then, Prada often reintroduces the nylon bag, adapting the look and style to match the designs each season. The clever redesign is how the nylon bag retains its popularity.

Prada Fall 2019 Womenswear with the new Prada Nylon handbag. (photo: courtesy)

Prada’s Sustainable Bags

This year the Prada company introduces a heritage collection titled ReNylon. The ReNylon collection takes inspiration from their iconic 90s designs but with a sustainable new twist. Prada swapped virgin nylon with ECONYL®, a regenerated nylon fiber produced by Aquafil. The ReNylon project is the latest of Prada’s new sustainability collections.

The new Prada ReNylon backpack at a nylon regeneration mill in Slovenia. (photo: Prada)

Prada reporter Amanda Gorman, the inaugural US Youth Poet Laureate whose work celebrates community and social change, with the new Prada ReNylon shoulder bag. (photo: Prada) — The new Prada ReNylon backpack at a nylon regeneration mill in Slovenia. (photo: Prada)

All is explained in a special video series produced in collaboration with the National Geographic. The 5-part series is shot in five countries – Slovenia, New Zealand, United States, China, and Cameroon. In each video, wasteful materials – plastic ocean waste, fishing nets, discarded textiles – are collected and transformed into ECONYL®.

Prada Commits To Sustainability

On the Prada website the company commits to replacing all virgin nylon textiles with the sustainable, regenerated ECONYL® nylon by the end of 2021. This is a more aggressive goal over most companies’ sustainability targets of 2025. The focus may reflect co-CEO Miuccia Prada’s belief that sustainability and culture are connected and must be attended to.

“Culture represents one of the Prada Group’s mainstays, a genuine vehicle for understanding changes in the society and promoting new growth opportunities. The most heterogeneous cultural spheres offer incessant sharing and dialogue insights, suggesting activities that return value to the community.
The [Prada] Group dedicates special attention and care to the preservation of the areas that host its activities, through art and architecture restoration and enhancements projects.
The [Prada] Group is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its activities, therefore, considerable multi-annual investments dedicated to the reduction of land consumption, energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, reduction of waste and responsible use of paper and packaging are made within the development plans of its branches.”
The Prada Group

Prada’s Next Investment

Underscoring the importance of awareness and responsibility, a percentage of proceeds from the sale of the Prada Re-Nylon collection will be donated to a new UNESCO environmental sustainability project. Prada in partnership with UNESCO developed educational activities that involve students from several countries to implement dedicated lesson plans using plastic and circular economy topics.