Fashionable Food

There is fashion in everything and fashion is everywhere. Even in contexts considered eternal and outside the flow of everyday life, such as religion, the flow of trends and symbols of fashion have influenced the sartorial practices. Fashion is unnecessary and superficial, the answer to a “want” rather than a “need”. In this regard, it’s different from food, essential for human survival. However, Prada has managed to merge the two worlds by making food fashionable, first by buying one of the finest cafés in Milan and then by opening up a café of their own, in London.

Pasticceria Marchesi, Milan

In 1824, on Via Santa Maria alla Porta 11/a in Milan, the Marchesi family opened its first pastry shop. The shop quickly became popular for its handmade confections. A few decades later, in the early 1900s, the owner Angelo Marchesi expanded the business, serving coffee, evening cocktails and refreshments, as well as pastries, cakes, biscuits and sweets. This made Marchesi a mandatory stop for anyone visiting Milan, as well as a cherished weekend tradition for many locals. 

Despite changes in trends and habits over the years, Pasticceria Marchesi has maintained its authentic atmosphere in its original address. However, today it’s also possible to enjoy Marchesi at other addresses in Milan, and one in London. 

Our favourite is the café in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, discreetly hidden above the Prada shop (which makes sense, as Marchesi now is part of the Prada Group). Here, you can rest comfortably in soft lounge chairs while eating pastries, stopping by the bar for a quick coffee, or simply picking up some of the Marchesi signature chocolate. 

The galleria outside the windows is notoriously crowded, but at Marchesi, you get a break from the crowd, as well as a unique view of the galleria. 

Don’t miss the Marchesi version of the Milanese panettone. The recipe, based on sourdough yeast, has been unchanged since 1824. In addition to the classic panettone, they now also make versions with chocolate, with pear, and even one with candied chestnuts. 

Prada Caffè, London

Fashion is a symbolic value, only temporarily manifested in clothes. This is why every season, a new collection is presented; fashion moves from collection to collection, transforming your previously trendy clothes into yesterday’s news. The phenomenon of fashion – expressed through the passing of trends and sudden shifts in taste – has fascinated people ever since its invention in the 14th century, at the royal courts in the south of France. The world of fashion has a gravitational pull on people who want to be part of its glamorous world, presented through advertisements, films, and glossy magazines. 

Many brands even create their own branded universe, carefully curated spaces that align with the creative direction orchestrated by the designer. 

Few other brands succeed with their branding strategies like Prada. When Miuccia Prada first took over reins of the family business, she based her design strategy in a kind of opposite thinking. The most luxurious material at the time was leather, so she designed nylon bags. Shoes were supposed to be elegant and slender, so she purposefully made them clumsy and chunky. And when everyone tried to find a new style by “inventing” grunge, she instead turned to recent fashion history, finding inspiration in the geometrical prints of the 1960s, thus creating the style of the 90s. By doing everything her own way, she eventually became the one everyone else wanted to follow.

At Harrods in London, you can now participate in the Pradasphere even without buying a single garment. In line with the logic of fashion (not a physical commodity but a symbolic value) Prada is here presented in the shape of a café. Instead of bags you have pastries and rather than shoes you can buy chocolate. In a way, it’s a play with fashion’s infatuation with change, as the lifespan of fruits and berries is even shorter than it is for a fashion trend in the age of social media. 

Prada Caffè is open between 9am and 9pm seven days a week. We recommend coming early, when you have the space almost entirely to yourself.