Prada Links up With Sotheby's for Its Fall 2020 Campaign Centered Around Memory

The Italian fashion house will auction the clothes and runway decor from its most recent men's and women's shows to raise money for educational programs.

Prada released it's Fall 2020 campaign on Monday, and its visual offering looks a bit different this season: Instead of linking up with a big-name photographer, the Italian fashion house teamed up with a world-renowned auction house — Sotheby's. The goal of the collaboration is to take action after months of lockdown imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dubbed "Tools of Memory," the campaign features images of over 30 models backstage at the Fall 2020 show back in February, juxtaposed with items that will be a part of an online auction in October with Sotheby's. The auction items are drawn from the most recent men's and women's presentations, and include garments, photographic prints, show invitations and pieces drawn from the runway décor. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to benefit UNESCO educational projects and expanding inclusion in education for vulnerable populations across the globe.

In lieu of a traditional studio shoot with one lensman, Prada credits Daniel Arnold, Phil Meech, Kevin Tachman and Gigi Hadid for the backstage photography; Oliver Rizzo for styling; and Ferdinando Verderi for his creative direction. Their combined creative efforts result in a special visual product that was put together by people who could not physically come together.

"What we create today becomes a memory for tomorrow," the luxury label notes in the press release. "That is especially true in fashion, runway shows premonitions of moments about to be lived, of styles about to be. Future histories. Clothes are mnemonic devices – they remind us of mood, of emotion and of experience. They are in themselves predictions of tomorrow, objects of desire, tools of memory. This Prada auction and campaign creates a memory of a precise moment not only within fashion, but in history – a memory that asserts usefulness and purpose in the present. A memory that can give back, to help the future."

The full action catalogue will be published online just before the launch of the auction on Oct. 2. In the meantime, browse the rest of the Fall 2020 campaign images below.

View the 5 images of this gallery on the original article

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