Milan As the sports world turns its attention to the Louis Vuitton Cup in Barcelona on Thursday, the final qualifying event for the 37th America’s Cup, Prada is looking to raise the profile of the event through a retail activation.
The Italian luxury brand will enter Barcelona’s waters with its Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC75 foiling monohull, as well as opening a temporary boutique in the city’s Marina Port Vell harbour.
The 1,290-square-foot boutique is decorated with a light green Prada triangular logo pattern on the exterior and boasts large windows overlooking the marina. Its décor matches the blueprint of Prada stores around the world, with its signature black and white checked marble floors, rosewood furniture and pastel carpeting.
Prada’s temporary boutique in Barcelona’s Marina Port Vell was opened to coincide with the 37th America’s Cup.
Courtesy of Prada
The store offers ready-to-wear clothing and accessories for men and women, as well as exclusive pieces such as cashmere jackets, skirts, jumpsuits, leather skirts, sailor-style coats and jackets, and exclusive georgette and sable garments adorned with floral embroidery and ribbons. With a focus on using premium fabrics, the men’s offerings include cashmere outerwear and knitwear, as well as technical gabardine suiting.
It will be open until the end of October, during the America’s Cup.
Further strengthening its connection to the 37th America’s Cup, the brand will also host a special exhibition at its flagship store on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, celebrating the sport of sailing and the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team through special America’s Cup sneakers.
Debuting for the Luna Rossa team in 1997, the footwear design was introduced into Prada’s fashion lineup in 1999 and is considered one of the pioneering examples of the luxury sneaker trend.
Featuring a leather and mesh upper, a rounded, puffy rubber sole and two red lines running down the heel and tongue, the shoe is part of the Prada Linea Rossa technical collection of performance apparel and accessories.
The Barcelona flagship store will carry a selection of sneakers that were reintroduced in an updated design on Prada’s fall 2018 runway and then re-released in their original versions in 2021, as well as an exclusive selection of ready-to-wear and accessories from Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the line named after Prada’s sailing ship.
Prada’s temporary boutique in Barcelona’s Marina Port Vell was opened to coincide with the 37th America’s Cup.
Courtesy of Prada
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team is due to take to the water again on Thursday after a few days off for the Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin action.
In the final qualifying regatta which concluded last Sunday, the Italian team came second after four adrenaline-pumping days of sailing, but were ultimately beaten by defending team Emirates Team New Zealand.
The 37th America’s Cup, which runs until Oct. 27, will be Luna Rossa’s seventh attempt but only its sixth race. The team withdrew from the event in 2015 in protest at the overturning of a rule that was unanimously adopted the previous year by then-cup holder Oracle Team of the United States.
The Luna Rossa Sailing Team was founded in 1997 by Prada Group Chairman Patrizio Bertelli and was originally named the “Prada Challenge for the America’s Cup 2000”. The team won the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000, achieving a record of 38 wins out of 49 races, and also competed in the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals in 2003 and 2007.
In 2021, Luna Rossa won the Prada Cup, a Challenger Selection Series, but lost to Emirates Team New Zealand, who were successfully defending the 36th America’s Cup, dashing their ambitions of taking home the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli trophy.
