A place for new stories

PRADA JOURNAL: a place for new stories

 

On October 23rd 2013 in the New York Epicenter at 575 Broadway, Prada unveiled the winners of the Prada Journal literary contest.

To mark this occasion, the Prada Epicenter store was transformed into a contemporary “theater of conversation and exchange”. The inspiration came from the classic literary salon. A three dimensional editorial experience about telling stories. The best environment for reading has been achieved by creating an echo optimized space using acoustic absorption panels and black carpet. A number of dedicated set up interventions transformed the space acoustically as well as visually. The lighting has been conceived as theatrical, dramatic, intimate, dark and warm.

The contest, launched by Prada in partnership with Giangiacomo Feltrinelli on 18 April 2013, drew participation of new talents from all over the world. 1.313 accepted the creative challenge and sent in their manuscripts to respond to the query posed by Prada Journal.

“What are the realities that our eyes give back to us? And how are these realities filtered through lenses?”

Mattia Conti, Leisl Egan, Angel Mario Fernández, Sarah Harris Waman and Peng Yang are the five winners who will receive the amount of 5000 Euro each.

Prada and Feltrinelli will then publish the winner’s short stories as a digital book which will be available on www.prada.com within 2013.

In a world of images, Prada emphasizes the strength of words: words sharply focused through the lenses of the Prada Journal optical collection.

Thus, the glasses become a privileged tool to explore the surrounding reality and reformulate it in words.

The Event began at 7pm when Jonathan Ames, Zoe Kazan, Anthony Mackie, Jay McInerney and Gary Shteyngart lent their voices to the winning stories during a reading moment. Oliver Platt was the master of ceremony. DJ Jeffrey Tonnesen animated the cocktail till late. Guests included Mamie Gummer, Paul Dano, Giovanna Battaglia, Zani Gugelmann, Christopher Bollen, Sofia Sanchez Barrenchea, Jessica Joffe, Meredith Melling, Michael Avedon, Valerie Boster and Olivier Rizzo.
 

 

The Winning Authors

 

Gli occhi di Malrico – Mattia Conti

Malrico is short-sighted. So much so that he can’t see anything barely beyond his nose. Not even the pebble glasses his mother had worked so hard to give him were of any help. Then Teresa came. She, on the other hand, was long-sighted. Strangely, the two started seeing one another for no other reason other than they complemented each other. A tale that accompanies us from the main character’s childhood to his old age. A delicate story which, though succinct, succeeds in its intent of talking about a whole lifetime.

Mattia Conti was born in 1989. He currently lives in Molteno in the province of Lecco, Italy. In 2011 he won the Premio Campiello Giovani.

 

Punchline - Leisl Egan

 Moptop, Poxy, Vladimir and Big Cheese: a group of clowns who put on shows that no one enjoys any more. This tragic situation is made worse by Moptop’s fits of depression and the arrival of Moondust, whose performances overshadow the other characters. A story of dignity and lost love in which this motley troupe of actors tries desperately to show its audience an amazing reality. They’ll soon find out that there is no show more moving that true reality, seen and filtered through the only, powerful lens that can make it memorable: our heart.

Leisl Egan was born in 1980. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she writes for television.

 

Juan se fue a las estrellas - Angel Mario Fernández

Carlitos is six and has lost his brother, Juan. When he asks his mother where he has gone she tells him Juan flew to heaven on a pair of wings. Confused and full of questions, Carlitos spends his time asking himself where his brother could be, if he’s alone and if he really got to heaven. This marks the start of a tender journey in search of a path to the stars. With a mixture of innocence and tenderness, Carlitos walks through the wood behind his home, looking for the secret passage that will lead him to his brother.

Angel Mario Fernández was born in Argentina in 1959. He lives in Soraluze, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country.

 

One Car Hooks Into The Next and Pulls - Sarah Harris Wallman

A train travels its route and observes its passengers as they get on and off. A silent, disillusioned commentator of human behaviour, its eyes see through the windows and register everything, even its passengers’ most intimate moments. An elegant woman and a businessman, in particular. A reflection on the fickleness of relationships seen through non-human eyes which nonetheless clearly see the pettiness of human mistakes.

Sarah Harris Wallman was born in 1978 and is a university lecturer and writer. She lives in Connecticut, USA, where she teaches at Albertus Magnus College.

 

Gray Story – Peng Yang

A bizarre storm and a foundling. This is a story peppered with visionary descriptions, exchanges of letters and news articles. A summary of different viewpoints on the life of this little boy dumb from birth yet capable of weaving all kinds of wonderful animals and figures with his hands. As they punctuate the shows of a shadow theatre, these hands have the task of opening others’ eyes as they move elegantly through the languor of a rural setting where we see a floating barge moored in the river, night sky lanterns, bamboo canes and a cobalt moon.

Peng Yang was born in 1984. He lives in Beijing, China, where he graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. He is a writer.

 

 

 

 
 


The Journal Collection

The new Prada Journal collection continues along the stylistic lines proposed in the previous season, carrying on the intimate, original narration of a world uniquely captured by lenses, and ultimately by one’s own eyes. The collection reinterprets the classic concept of eyeglasses transforming it into a style object that reflects the multiple facets of the intimate individual world.

The Journal Collection develops around Prada’s desire to design eyewear capable of expressing individual personality and emphasizing individual style.

The narration unwinds through two optical models that enrich the Journal Collection and provide fragments of reality with a sharp contour, rearranging them harmoniously with a new language.

 The women’s versions of the collection feature a sophisticated blend of classic and elaborate forms; in men’s versions, the geometry of the lines and the substantial volumes assert the distinctive character of Prada eyewear.

The models that comprise the new Prada Journal collection were featured in the Prada Women’s and Prada Men’s advertising campaigns for the 2013 Fall/Winter season.

 

VPR14Q – women’s model

The Women’s optical model of the new Journal collection features a vaguely 50s elegance, with its square acetate front and slight hint of a cat’s eyes shape. Painstakingly finished and smoothed temples create a quasi-vintage 3D effect. Besides the classic Black and middle Tortoiseshell, the colour palette playfully combines Ivory, Cocoa and Purple fronts with Tortoiseshell temples in the Orchid, Sand-Dark Brown and Cocoa-Purple versions.

 

VPR11Q – men’s model

The Men’s of the new Journal collection combines a classic rectangular shape with the creative twist of bold acetate. The clean-shaped geometric temples feature a metal detail that highlights the Prada lettering logo. Along with classic Black and Tortoiseshell, the model is offered in the refined tones of Cocoa and Marbled Black. Exclusive silk-screen acetates with the hounds tooth print of the Prada Menswear FW13 collection enrich the insides of the temples in the black and cocoa variants.

 

Prada Group

The Prada Group is one of the world leaders in the luxury goods sector where it operates with the Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s and Car Shoe brands in the design, production and distribution of luxury handbags, leather goods, footwear, apparel and accessories. The Group also operates, under licensing agreements, in the eyewear, fragrances and mobile telephone sectors. Its products are sold in 70 countries worldwide through a network that included 491 directly operated stores at July 31, 2013 and a select network of luxury department stores, independent retailers and franchise stores. Information on Prada Group is available at www.pradagroup.com

 

Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore S.r.l.

The Giangiacomo Feltrinelli publishing house, established in 1955, is one of the leading Italian publishing organisations, with its over 8,000 catalogue titles, 270 new publications per year and an active booklist including about 3,000 titles.

With its catalogue and its editorial selection, the publishing house aims at stating the continuity of its civil and political heritage, its taste and need for innovation, experimentation, openness towards new frontiers and new publishing adventures.

Feltrinelli is proud of being the first Italian publisher of the most significant authors and books on the international scene; amongst others, the house publishes Nobel prize laureates Nadine Gordimer, Imre Kértesz, José Saramago, Doris Lessing, Herta Muller, Muhammad Yunus.

Italian authors in the catalogue include Roberto Saviano, Antonio Tabucchi, Alessandro Baricco, Erri De Luca, Stefano Benni, Maurizio Maggiani, Cristina Comencini, Simonetta Agnello Hornby for fiction. In nonfiction, the main authors are Umberto Galimberti, Enrico Deaglio, Eugenio Borgna, Carlo Ginzburg, Massimo Recalcati.

Besides its main non-fiction and fiction collections, and the paperback line Universale Economica Feltrinelli, in relatively recent years the publishing house enriched its production by adding travel fiction, children's fiction, miscellaneous fiction and home cinema series.

 

Luxottica Group S.p.A.

 Luxottica Group is a leader in premium, luxury and sports eyewear with approximately 7,000 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, China, South Africa, Latin America and Europe, and a strong, well-balanced brand portfolio. Proprietary brands include Ray-Ban, the world’s most famous sun eyewear brand, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli and Arnette, while licensed brands include Giorgio Armani, Bulgari, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Starck Eyes, Tiffany and Versace. In addition to a global wholesale network involving 130 different countries, the Group manages leading retail chains in major markets, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and ILORI in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Asia-Pacific, LensCrafters in China, GMO in Latin America and Sunglass Hut worldwide. The Group's products are designed and manufactured at its six manufacturing plants in Italy, two wholly owned plants in the People’s Republic of China, one plant in Brazil and one plant in the United States devoted to the production of sports eyewear. In 2012, Luxottica Group posted net sales of more than Euro 7.0 billion. Additional information on the Group is available at www.luxottica.com.