There is no fashionista in the world who does not know Prada Marfa, the non-luxury store that presides over the Texas desert. It is actually a work of art, created by Scandinavian artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. The idea of its creators was to place the sculpture in a remote place as a criticism of luxury consumerism in the United States. However, for various reasons, this store that does not sell anything has become quite the opposite, an icon of luxury fashion.
In 2005, Prada Marfa was launched. It is located in the middle of the Texas desert, about 60 kilometers from Marfa, a town with no more than 2,000 inhabitants. The authors wanted to demonstrate the deterioration of luxury in a hostile environment. But, the truth is that there has been no way to turn the no store into a mockery of luxury. Year after year countless lovers of the world of fashion make a pilgrimage here, which has made Prada Marfa stand out as one of the most striking banners of luxury fashion.
The controversies surrounding Prada Marfa
The store is a small concrete cubicle, with a large window displaying thirty pieces from the firm’s 2005 collection. Miuccia Prada herself was in charge of giving and choosing the items that would be exhibited in said location.
During the 11 years of life of Prada Marfa there have been many setbacks that the sculpture has had to suffer. Only three days after its inauguration, it was the object of a robbery of all the clothes that were inside. Prada relinquished the same items so that the monument would remain part of the Texas desert.
In 2014, another attack was about to end the Prada store. The facade of the monument woke up plagued with graffiti and stickers. Although the purpose of the artists was to observe the deterioration of luxury outside its natural environment, the store was completely restored, returning to shine as the first day.
But without a doubt, one of the most striking events that almost made Prada Marfa disappear completely was the complaint filed by the Texas Department of Transportation. It denounced that it was illegal advertising in an area where billboards are not allowed. It should be noted that the authors did not ask for any type of permission to place her work of art in the desert.
Finally, and after a year of negotiations, the Texas Department of Transportation withdrew the lawsuit. Today, Prada’s non-store is classified as a museum.
a place of pilgrimage
The artists responsible for the monument did not bet on the dissemination of their sculpture. But the fact that Beyoncé posted on her social networks an image in which she is seen jumping in front of her store made much of the world aware of this peculiar place. And, without a doubt, that painting that presided over the Van der Woodsen’s living room in the Gossip Girl series, in which Prada Marfa could be read and an arrow with the distance to the famous store that does not sell, was the cause of popularity unprecedented of this emblematic place. Currently, this poster decorates all kinds of objects, such as t-shirts, cushions or large posters.
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