Prada is a famous Italian clothing design label. Started in 1913 as a leather goods business, the company quickly expanded into various aspects of high fashion, including dresses, handbags, and miniskirts. Nowadays, the name is synonymous with expensive designs and elegant fabrics--one of only a handful of labels whose very name caries with it an air of instant elegance and sophistication.

Like many successful businesses that have been around for some time, Prada has undergone many metamorphoses. Originally, it focused mostly on handbags and other accessories; since the 1990s, however, it has been involved in almost all the aspects of the fashion industry. Its consciously cerebral approach to high fashion has made it a perennial favorite among urban professionals, intellectuals and celebrities.

Nowadays, Prada continues to impress the international fashion industry. Its shoes and handbags are still its most sought-after items--belying, ironically enough, the humble leather goods origin of the company. It has also expanded to include many other distinct labels and designers, including Helmut Lang and Jil Sander. Though these designers operate under Prada's general management, many of them have their own distinct fashion philosophies and ways of doing business.