Prada emphasizes knitwear workplace through digital series

August 3, 2022

A scene from episode one of Prada Group's Torgiano video series. Image credit: Prada

Italian fashion company Prada Group is highlighting the importance of its comprehensive knitwear production process through a new digital series.

The new video vignettes celebrate the time and attention to detail needed to produce knitwear. They also highlight Prada’s Torgiano workshop as a site of creativity, quality craftsmanship and ethical employment.

Socially conscious knitwear
Within three years, millennial and under-25 consumers will be the dominant demographic in the luxury market, with an estimated 65-70 percent share. Millennials are willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable brand, and they prefer to spend on brands that align with their personal values.

This generational shift in luxury purchasing power means that for top fashion houses to remain popular, ethicality and sustainability must now be prioritized. Young affluents are shaping the future of fashion consumption by opting for luxury brands that are socially conscious.

In Prada’s new four-part video series, garment production is the focus but the films also shed light on the family-owned house's sustainable luxury supply chain through employee narratives.

Italy, home to some of the world's most iconic luxury brands, has key industrial fashion districts that are known for severe worker exploitation. Italian luxury fashion has long been associated with opulent optics and meager wages for undocumented supply chain workers.

However, Prada’s Torgiana studio is a far cry from industry images of physically abused workers and shoddy labor practices. The well-lit production house employs over 120 artisans, technicians and garment workers, who are both Italian and non-native.

One video details that Torgiana is a hub of industrial machinery where Prada’s garments are created in-house. The internal production processes include both machine-dominant techniques and hand crocheting for knitwear which can span days and contribute to one-of-a-kind merchandise.

Michela Moscatelli, a "rammendatrice"— Italian for mender — explains her job role in the next video. Ms. Moscatelli calls her workplace “a place of pride” and is seen hand sewing a playful image onto a sweater.

In another vignette, Matteo Fagiolo, a "maglierista"— knitter, in Italian — and former attendee of the Prada Academy, explains his career journey. Mr. Fagiolo details that he enjoyed career mobility at Prada and now oversees new clothing prototypes and the production of semi-finished clothes.

A fourth episode features Maryna Dubetska, a "responsabile maglierista" — knitting manager, in Italian — who calls her workplace “a dream come true.” After immigrating to Italy from Ukraine, she knew from her first day in fashion production that she had found her career passion.

Prada’s everyday people
Prada has recently highlighted its “Prada People” who include brand ambassadors and celebrities like Rami Malek and Jake Gyllenhaal (see story). But this most recent campaign video series is more concerned with everyday workers than the Hollywood glitterati.

The Italian fashion house has recently shifted towards an emphasis on corporate responsibility (see story). The clothing and accessories brand also seems keen on advancing the brand narrative around social responsibility as well.

With one project on animal conservation (see story) and another emphasizing designers of color (see story), ethical and sustainable luxury is at the forefront of the Italian fashion label’s ethos.

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Prada emphasizes knitwear workplace through digital series

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