2023

Puffy Prada Provenance

Black napa leather calfskin and hardware

Puffification emerged as a trend as the ultra rich desired to feel insulated from the oncoming recession. Prada, among other brands, re-released their classic designs with a puffy siloughette at triple the cost. This bag retails for around $3,000 USD.

Puffy Prada Provinance is a value study. It is a conceptual art piece tracing the purchase of one Grade AAA fake Prada Bag from the real Prada factory. I present the bag on a plinth as art object, along with text describing how I came to aquire it. The text begins with a text exchange with poet LA Warman, then switches over to a whatsapp chat with a factory manager in China using the pseudonym Linda. I send $237 USD through paypal to Linda. The bag arrives at my studio in Chicago two weeks later in an unmarked box.

The bag serves to authenticate me as It Girl in certain spaces. I was recently approached at a fashion show by a buyer from the Real Real to buy the bag. The bag has a serial number, real hardware, and the correct grain of calfskin. It is Real/NotReal. At this time, I still have the work.

The hand pictured is Linda’s.