Miuccia Prada is the lead designer at Prada SpA, the leather and luggage company she inherited from her grandfather and built into an ultra luxury goods conglomerate with a cult-like following.

From her first hit, a rugged black nylon backpack created in 1979, to today’s must-have handbags, footwear and apparel, Prada established herself as a trendsetter with the ability to capitalize on the aesthetic of the moment. Experimentation defines the brand. Year after year, Prada’s highly anticipated collections might be called idiosyncratic, utilitarian, even peculiar, but they resonate with the well heeled. Such devoted customers pushed Prada SpA sales near the $2 billion mark in 2007 alone.

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The designer earned her doctorate in political science before taking over the company in 1978, with her husband, Prada CEO, Patrizio Bertelli. Her eponymous ready-to-wear collection debuted in 1989 with dropped waistlines, simple lines and muted colors — not at all what other designers were doing. A less expensive bridge line, given Prada’s nickname, Miu Miu, was introduced in 1992. Menswear and cosmetics followed.

In 1993, Prada and Bertelli created the Prada Foundation (Fondazione Prada), which commissions artists and provides space for them to carry out ambitious creative works they might not otherwise have the resources to fund.