Last night marked the closing ceremonies of Prada’s very first “Prada Mode,” a traveling members club that, for the past three nights, has held court at the Freehand Miami hotel complex. Think of Prada Mode as part art exhibit, part cultural forum for panels and discussions, and part social gathering point. It was (and will continue to be) by invitation only.
The pop-up club’s visual tone was set through an “intervention”—essentially a gallery-like design takeover—by the artist Theaster Gates, whose work was seen throughout. (He currently has a show at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, on view until January 13.) Gates also performed later on Thursday evening with the Black Monks of Mississippi Live, tucked away in a low-lit lounge full of hushed onlookers.
Some guests nursed specially created Mode cocktails of whiskey and juniper or honey and vodka around the Freehand’s pool, reclining into midcentury couches and love seats, while others sat at a private dinner that functioned as the crowning fete of the collaboration.
There, Kanye West, Venus Williams, Emma Roberts, Quavo, and the photographer Tyler Mitchell (who shot our September 2018 cover of Beyoncé) took in the calmness of the scene—this seemed to be what was remarked upon most. Gates and Prada cleverly conceived a hideaway that was, arguably, the most tranquil respite from the Basel bacchanal outside. Here’s looking forward to wherever Prada Mode lands next.