Prada sculpture in Texas

Prada will soon open a store in Texas, albeit not a boutique for shoppers to purchase its minimalist ware. Rather, the new Prada store is an art instillation entiteld Prada Marfa by Berlin artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset will be installed. (Actually it will go up in Valentine, Texas, 40 kilometers, outside Marfa, a town of 2,400 that has become a magnet for artists and art lovers.) The sculpture is meant to look like a Prada store, with minimalist white stucco walls and a window display housing real Prada shoes and handbags from the fall collection. But there is no working door

The idea of the piece being born on Oct. 1 and that it will never again be maintained was part of the artist's vision. If someone were to spray-paints graffiti or a mouse or a muskrat makes a home in it, 50 years from now it will be a ruin that is a reflection of the time it was made. The piece hints at subjects to which designers are sensitive: the unchecked growth of luxury brands, the temporal relevance of fashion, retail as tourism and a culture that is devoted to buying and selling. Miuccia Prada gave the artists permission to use her trademark for the work and also picked out the shoes.