2024/10 Prada – The Dinner Guests
Details:
Prada
The Dinner Guests
Capsule 2024
Via Monte Napoleone 8, Milan (Women)
Via Monte Napoleone 6, Milan (Men)
Via della Spiga 18, Milan
Review:
by Peter Hamer
october 24, 2023
Christmas is here—again. And it feels like it’s come even earlier this year. Every year, we hear the same complaints: “Isn’t it too soon for Christmas?” It used to start in November, but here we are, mid-October, and it’s already decked out in full holiday spirit. Even September saw Christmas popping up at de Bijenkorf in Utrecht and Amsterdam. What does this tell us? Times are tough. Retailers need the oxygen that holiday shopping provides, and consumers, perhaps more than ever, are looking for reasons to buy.
But let’s not kid ourselves—the symbolic meaning of Christmas has long taken a back seat to the relentless drive for sales. Turnover, cash flow, repeat. And we, as consumers, are part of that cycle. We’ve fueled the demand, so there’s no point in complaining now.
Enter Prada – The Dinner Guests, their Holiday 2024 collection. A charming array of products paired with nostalgic characters—bears and robots. The latter originally debuted during their FW04 show, twenty years ago. Lucky for me, I still have two of the originals tucked away in my collection. So, while the collection itself ticks all the boxes—entry-level products, high margins, something for everyone—it’s the display that we need to talk about.
Does this setup look familiar? It should. Back in April, Prada presented a very similar concept during Salone del Mobile, which I called Tavola—that’s Italian for table, by the way. The focus then was on tableware—a straightforward display that was refreshing in its simplicity. But Christmas? That was never the intention, or so I thought.
Was that April display a trial run? A test to gauge consumer interest? It feels like old-school trial-and-error—launch something, see how it resonates, and adjust from there. Or maybe this was the plan all along, a subtle introduction to what would later evolve into their Christmas concept. Prada has a history of starting their holiday displays one way and letting them morph into something else as the season progresses. It makes you wonder—does VM need to be constantly new, or does it just need to sell? Prada seems to be leaning into the latter.
This is where Prada stands out. If we look back to the strategies of Miu Miu this past summer, we see a similar approach to retail and visual merchandising. There is a deep understanding of what drives customers into stores. Prada, and by extension Miu Miu, has managed to maintain consumer attention by knowing when to push novelty and when to rely on familiar, successful formulas. In the case of Miu Miu, it was the seamless blend of nostalgia with modernity—injecting new life into well-known elements. Prada’s holiday display follows a similar thread, reintroducing beloved characters and past concepts, but repurposing them for today’s market.
Prada doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel every season. Instead, they refine their approach, playing the long game. While many brands scramble to create something ‘new’ for the sake of novelty, Prada understands that what works is what sells. The robots from FW04 tap into the emotional resonance of long-time Prada customers while also offering a unique entry point for new buyers. It’s a smart, strategic move that speaks to the brand’s depth of understanding when it comes to consumer behavior.
Prada knows their audience. They know what makes them tick, and most importantly, they know that during times of economic uncertainty, people look for comfort in the familiar. This holiday season, comfort comes in the form of these iconic characters, wrapped in the brand’s contemporary communication. It’s more than just a display; it’s a retail strategy that acknowledges the current climate and gives consumers exactly what they need—something they know, something they trust.
In this way, Prada’s The Dinner Guests display is a masterclass in how to balance nostalgia and commercial sensibility, showing once again why Prada remains one of the sharpest players in the retail game. They understand that while visual merchandising should captivate, it should also convert. And right now, what converts is comfort, nostalgia, and the assurance of quality.
So in terms of remaining contemporary, Prada says: “You can sit with us.”
