The Irony of Prada's SS 2020 Hyper Leaves Project Succumbs to Reality

The Irony of Prada's SS 2020 Hyper Leaves Project Succumbs to Reality

One of Spring 2020’s more ambitious luxury project is Prada Hyper Leaves, launched before the shuttering of stores in so many cities worldwide. Opening first as a collab with Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris from January 14 to February 10, 2020, the project opened at Prada Soho in lower Manhattan at the end of February.

Two Prada pop-ups dedicated to women and mens SS2020 collections were flanked by 15 original windows inspired by wild nature lived in Paris at Galeries Lafayette . Model Femke Bloem poses in key items from the women’s collection.

Hyper Leaves Soho

Vogue.com writer Emily Farra covered the opening of Prada’s Hyper Leaves Installation in New York’s SoHo in late February 2020. The irony of her words is not lost on us.

“Real plants mingle with massive neon-lit structures, including a tower on the lower level that nearly reaches the ceiling. Throughout the entire store, the carpets were updated in a bright lawn green, peppered with plastic-leaf-shaped product displays. . . . To walk in on a gray and misty morning, it was a warm departure from New York’s winter chill. The contrast of real and fake, natural and unnatural, also reflects Prada’s core philosophy of unlikely contradictions. . . . It’s around this time of year that we all start to feel the winter blues, and a trip downtown is certainly a better way to deal than staying cooped up inside.”

And then . . . a couple weeks later, the fashion fantasy came tumbling down as boarded windows replaced the bright lights and neon palm trees. An ironic contradiction indeed. ~ Anne.

Related: In the U.S., Luxury Brands Board Up the Store New York Times

How Will China’s Luxury Fashion Market Bounce Back? Jing Daily