For Laia Garcia-Furtado, Prada has always been more than a fashion label. Her fascination with the Italian luxury house has shaped much of her work, from her time as a senior fashion news editor to her commentary on designer Miuccia Prada’s influence on modern fashion.
So when she was approached to write a book exploring the brand’s defining decade, the 1990s, the opportunity felt like a natural next step. Her new publication, Prada in the Nineties, takes a closer look at the collections that helped transform the label from a relatively young fashion house into a global powerhouse.
Garcia-Furtado believes the decade continues to captivate fashion lovers because of its sense of individuality and freedom. Before the internet and social media became central to everyday life, people had more room to develop their own personal style.
For Prada, the 1990s were particularly significant. It was the period when Miuccia Prada began establishing the creative vision that would define the house for decades. Many of the collections from that era continue to influence designers and appear in contemporary fashion references.
Her research also revealed unexpected details about the designer’s creative process. Prada’s Spring 1999 collection, for instance, featured mirror embellishments as a playful response to the hippie-inspired trends she had helped popularise. Garcia-Furtado also points to the Fall 2008 lace collection, which Prada reportedly created partly because she disliked lace.
Because the book is an independent, unauthorised publication, illustrator Rachel Song was brought in to reinterpret some of the designer’s most memorable looks. The illustrations include a chinoiserie-inspired outfit and the distinctive Spring 1999 bum bag.
To celebrate the book’s release, Garcia-Furtado selected four of her favourite Prada collections from the decade.
Spring 1994: Grunge Meets Romance
This collection brought together sheer nightgowns, knitted separates, white socks and unusual moccasins. Renaissance-inspired details also appeared in leather vests layered over flowing white dresses.
For Garcia-Furtado, the collection captured the grunge mood of the early 1990s while retaining the distinctive sensibility of Miuccia Prada. Its unconventional combinations still feel surprisingly contemporary.
Spring 1996: A Defining Fashion Moment
Garcia-Furtado describes Spring 1996 as perhaps her favourite fashion collection of all time, crediting it with shaping her personal style.
The collection played with mismatched prints and unexpected shades of green, combining colours that might ordinarily seem difficult to wear. Its silhouettes were equally distinctive: midi skirts falling between the knee and ankle, slip dresses layered beneath car coats and unconventional sandals.
The overall effect was slightly unusual but carefully balanced, combining femininity with Prada’s signature sense of unpredictability.
Spring 1998: Looking Towards the Future
With the new millennium approaching, Spring 1998 explored a more futuristic aesthetic while maintaining a romantic quality.
The collection featured beadwork that suggested computer circuitry or raindrops, alongside familiar button-down shirts updated with latex inserts. A rich berry palette appeared in tailored suits and gathered skirts, with matching tones carried through the beauty looks.
One of Garcia-Furtado’s standout details was the collection’s pink lucite heels, which remain high on her fashion wish list.
Spring 1992: Unexpected and Unconventional
Although the earlier collections were initially a blind spot during her research, Garcia-Furtado discovered plenty to appreciate in Prada’s Spring 1992 show.
Among the memorable pieces were Naomi Campbell’s bright white satin tunic and matching cigarette trousers, as well as a red-and-white vertically striped dress with sculptural shoulders.
Her favourite look featured Carla Bruni wearing a bike-short twinset with a pillbox hat. The combination was deliberately prim and polished, yet carried an eccentric edge that made it unmistakably Prada.
A New Look at Prada’s Most Influential Decade
Through these four collections, Prada in the Nineties highlights the experimentation, humour and unconventional styling that helped establish Miuccia Prada’s creative identity.
The book offers a closer look at a period when the designer was developing the ideas that would become central to the fashion house’s enduring influence.
