Prada gallops into the Year of the Horse with a bang, featuring Chinese actress Yang Mi and table tennis champion Ma Long in a campaign that celebrates the brand's spirit of adventure and courage. The fire horse, which occurs every 60 years, has been transformed into a Prada character, an avatar known for leadership and independence, all qualities quintessentially Prada. In a campaign lensed by Zhong Lin, the self-taught Malaysian fashion photographer, the brand ambassadors are seen in key looks from the brand’s spring 2026 collection, posing alongside a geometric red horse. The campaign, made under the creative direction of Ferdinando Verderi, celebrates the fusion of ancient, elemental symbolism with the modern emblem synonymous with Prada — the instantly identifiable Prada Triangle. The physical counterpart to the campaign will include three separate physical installations, running until early March. An "ephemeral, monolithic" Prada Fire Horse will be unveiled at the atrium of Shanghai’s luxury shopping mall IFC Mall from Jan. 22, while two other pop-up installations will appear simultaneously at Prada Rong Zhai in downtown Shanghai and Chengdu’s IFS Mall. The façade of Rong Zhai, Prada’s restored historical mansion, will also be transformed into a canvas for mapped projections of the Prada Triangle Fire Horse from Jan. 22 to Feb. 14. Afterward, an immersive playground dubbed "Fire Horse Fair" will take up the villa house from Feb. 28 to March 3, which will be this year’s Lantern Festival. The fair will feature games, rides, and refreshment trucks, made in collaboration with Mi Shang Prada Rong Zhai, its in-house restaurant. For Prada, celebrity endorsement and physical experiences remain at the heart of the brand’s China strategy in 2025, despite market growth reaching "a kind of plateau," according to group chief executive officer Andrea Guerra. Last December, Prada named China's "queen of driving sales" Yang Mi its brand ambassador. Last March, its first China restaurant opened at Rong Zhai. Reasserting its authority on the West Nanjing Road retail artery, of which Rong Zhai is a part, Prada is said to be working on its Pingan Mansion flagship — a mixed-use Art Deco apartment building completed over 100 years ago that used to host Zara — according to local media reports. Since exiting its prime entrance position at Plaza 66 in 2021, Prada made a triumphant return to the luxury shopping mall with an atrium shop and a Prada Salon store on the fourth floor last year.
