handbags and steamer trunks for the Milanese elite.
Prada was an unlikely inheritor of her family's business. A former member of the Italian Communist Party, Prada attended the University of Milan, where she made a name for herself as an ardent feminist and earned a Ph.D. in political science. Following her academic work, Prada planted herself at Milan's Piccolo Teatro, where she trained as a mime for five years.