All posts in: Marfa

17 Sep 2013

Prada Marfa – No More?

Word on the street is that our favorite fashion art installation is about to get shut down. We hope that this isn’t true, but several fingers point to yes. We’ve blogged about the Prada located in Marfa, Texas before as its own post or either as part of A Collection and while we’ve never had a chance to visit it in person, we like the fact that something like this even exists. According to Texas officials, the installation is violating a state highway and beautification laws.

The piece has been a tourist hot spot since 2005 even attracting Beyonce to come visit it.

…a 15-foot-by-25-foot adobe building in the Chihuahuan desert, 35 miles northwest of Marfa. It contains six bags (without bottoms, to discourage theft) and 20 shoes (the rights only, for the same reason). This store is so exclusive that its door is always locked.

For more information and history on the fake Prada store and what is happening to it, read about it here.

01 Sep 2010

Prada in the middle of nowhere

In 2005, a Prada shop was built near Marfa, Texas in the middle of nowhere. It is eye-catching, surprising, and wondrous. It would have been way more interesting if the shop was real, but I don’t think the business would do so well if that were the case. As cool as it would have been, I totally understand why it isn’t actually real – just imagine the difficulties they would have trying to run a store from there. For a start, they would get almost no passers-by or through-traffic, meaning sales would definitely be low. As well as that, they would surely struggle for internet access, which is essential for businesses nowadays. I know that Satellite Internet Now provide satellite internet for rural locations, but this may be pushing it a bit! I can’t imagine there would be great cell signal out there, either! And who would want to do the deliveries to that place? Nobody!!
So no, it isn’t a shop. The Prada pop up is actually just an art installation – and a fantastic one at that. The items in the store include 20 pairs of shoes and six handbags from the fall/winter 2005 collection – each chosen by Miuccia Prada. The installation was made to resemble a sort of time capsule that remains in place. Designed by German artists Elmgree and Dragset, the Prada store has taken the #2 spot on the Top 10 American Roadside Attractions Worth Stopping For.

I know where I’ll be headed here if I ever take a road trip down south.

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