In celebration of Miami Art Week 2022, the Italian luxury fashion house Prada held the third iteration of Prada Extends, an intimate, invite-only music project in Miami. The project is a response to the city’s rich cultural history and the innovative and avant-garde energy of the city’s vibrant Latin community. The event took place at the Faena Forum, Miami, on December 1, 2022, bringing together international electronic-influenced DJs, artists, and musicians with international standing.
Top on this list was Richie Hawtin, aka Plastikman, the brains behind Prada Extends. A longtime Prada collaborator, Plastikman has been at the helm of the project from its inception in London in December 2021. According to the official Prada website, “Prada Extends is a series of live events across the globe created with and curated by Plastikman, conceived in the services of harnessing music’s power to unite.”
Plastikman shared the stage with producer and DJ Ela Minus, 22-year-old Buenos Aires-born rapper Sofia Gabanna, and Slim Soledad, a DJ and multidisciplinary artist from São Paulo, also known as a member of the queer collective, Chernobyl. The creatives’ music was complemented by visual arts from various innovative talents, including digital artist and creative coder Paola Olea, Argentinian artist Marcelo Armenariz aka Lolo Armdz, Luciano Toledo aka T.O.L.C.H., and Orlando-based interactive experience designer and audiovisual artist Ginger Leigh, aka SYNTHESTRUCT.
Besides the main acts, Prada Extends Miami also attracted high-profile attendees like American actresses Hailee Steinfeld, Nichelle Hines, Jamie Chung, and Maya Hawke, American model and actor Keith T Powers, and Mexican actress and singer Eiza Gonzalez, among others. Following the opening of Art Basel earlier in the day, many partygoers were glad to see so many VIP guests at Prada’s event. The spectacular late-night party kicked off without a hitch, keeping the attendees on their feet with high-energy sets curated by Plastikman himself.
“The event brought the concentric spheres of art, fashion, and music together, celebrating Miami’s Latin community and its place on the cutting edge,” a news release by Prada read in part. With its commitment to sponsoring experimental talent and creativity, Prada is the perfect brand to celebrate the city’s vibrant and creative community.
Prada Extends is a series of bi-annual events that will feature live performances by local and international DJs, as well as talks by music industry experts globally. The events will be hosted at various locations worldwide, including art galleries, private clubs, and rooftops.
The project is part of Prada’s ongoing commitment to the adoption and championing of new music genres. Previous projects include the launch of Prada Extends London, the first event Plastikman curated in December 2021. The second event took place in Tokyo, Japan, in July 2022, combining a talk about music and culture held at the Prada Miyashita Park store in the Shibuya district and a party at Terrada, one of the largest centers for art and music, in Japan.
Among other things, the Prada Extends events have fostered closeness between like-minded musicians in the electronic/dance music space and visual artists. The events will continue in more cities in the coming year, and they might even add more dates.
