m/m paris for prada

‘pradalphabet’ designed by m/m paris, is a collection of 26 letters created for prada. initially, the pradalphabet was solely based on the letters P-R-A-D-A-M, creating an ephemeral prada logo printed on limited edition t-shirts. since then, ‘pradalphabet’ has been expanded to an entire alphabet set.

‘when we were commissioned to create this t-shirt project for prada, we thought that the beauty of buying a shirt is that it is a memory of a place, person or event. in theory, to buy a prada t-shirt, adorned with its logo, is like having a memory of the particular world by this brand…’ – m/m paris

in designing ‘pradalphabet’, the individual characters were treated as pieces of architecture. each is connected to all the other letters, yet each holds its presence individually.

a total of 5 t-shirts created for prada feature a letter from ‘pradalphabet’ in the front, and the P-R-A-D-A / M logo in the back.

the pradalphabet t-shirts, which will debut at milan design week in april 2010, will be available for purchase at prada stores. the shirt will be accompanied with an exclusive 64 page album, explaining the design of the 26 letters. the album also includes an essay by italian writer and philosopher federico nicolao.

m/m paris is a art and design partnership composed of mathias augustyniak and michael amzalag, founded in paris in 1992. their work which operate across many aspects of contemporary culture, has been exhibited in numerous international museums such as frankfurter kunstverein, victoria & albert museum in london and solomon r. guggenheim museum and drawing center in new york. m/m paris are particularly interested in typography and its ability to represent and encompass languages through abstract visual entities. they have created over 50 different typefaces which they regularly use in their commissions and art projects.