There are 2 Days and 5 hours left for Prada x Sotheby’s “Tools of Memory”, an exclusive auction event celebrating the importance of design across art and fashion. Prada’s penchant for post-opulent,  understated luxury and transformative fashion will is showcased through an auction of one-of-a-kind Fall/Winter 2020 fashion items, photographic prints, show invitations and pieces drawn from the runway décor and vinyl with the accompanying music for both presentations by Frédéric Sanchez.

Sanchez’s career began in 1988, when fashion designer Martin Margiela invited him to design the soundtrack for his debut show, and he has since worked with various designers such as Comme des Garçons, Helmut Lang, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs, and most recently, Prada where he created a soundscape to for brand’s FW2020 show which debuted in January and February.

REM KOOLHAAS | ATLAS STATUE
Estimate: 5,000 – 7,000 EUR CURRENT BID: 4,500 EUR

Fashion has a duty not only to reflect its times, but to help shape them, to be a meaningful and useful tool, to affect change.

Prada x Sotheby’s “Tools of Memory” an auction of Miuccia’s Exclusive Runway Collection

Prada’s FW2020 show transformed the grand hall of the Deposito of Fondazione Prada into two piazzas, designed by research and design studio AMO. Classical masculine symbols of heroism like an equestrian statue, an unnamed “anti-hero, and a representation of the Greek Titan Atlas designed by Rem Koolhaas formed the centrepieces of the Men’s and Women’s shows respectively; scenescapes reminiscent of Giorgio de Chirico’s works; also appears as highlights of the auction.

Clothes are objects of desire that remind us of emotion and experience: tools of memory of a precise moment within fashion and time, that on this occasion can help the future.

Famed for his sound environments, as well as installations and compositions for galleries, museums and public spaces, Sanchez’s experiential sound staging projects (yes his playlist is also up for auction via vintage vinyl) are one-of-a-kind, much like the garments up for auction at Prada x Sotheby’s “Tools of Memory”. The unique garments worn by models during each fashion show, immortalise the backstage process and on-stage performance.

From layered fringes to deconstructed pleats, geometric prints, knitwear and shearling-lined outerwear, Prada: Tools of Memory features over 40 looks from the house’s FW2020 presentations. Each outfit is unique; the clothing, shoes, and accessories worn by the models for fittings and on the catwalk, such as a one-of-a-kind pastel blue dress with an embellished beaded fringe neckline, the dress was originally created for the show but the same prototype in a different colour featured on the final catwalk.

I think that in this moment what I can do with my work is to do something that is meaningful, real, that can express various intentions, different meanings. The collections are about personality, craft, a creative contribution. The meaning and usefulness of fashion today: use and utility, function. Clothes as tools, tools for life – fashion with a purpose. – Miuccia Prada

Prada: Tools of Memory auction will raise funds for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and its efforts to safeguard learning for students around the world in the face of the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19. At the peak of the pandemic, school closures to contain its spread interrupted the education of more than 1.5 billion children and youth – 90% of the world’s students – disproportionately impacting girls and women, for whom education is often a lifeline.

Unique. Estimate: 1,500 – 2,400 EUR CURRENT BID: 6,500 EUR

Prada will donate its proceeds raised in this auction will specifically benefit UNESCO’s new campaign entitled Keeping Girls in the Picture and their Global Education Coalition’s Gender Flagship, which has been leading collaborative efforts to promote the continuity of learning during closures and ensure a safe return to school for all women everywhere.

Some of Luxuo’s favourite picks from Prada x Sotheby’s “Tools of Memory”