In the cover story of the upcoming Wall Street Journal magazine, Prada's Patrizio Bertelli discusses, among other things, a possible initial public offering for the company, noting that the stock market is the best option to give the company a real future. Of course, Prada has had problems with IPOs in the past. We took the opportunity to call Gian Luigi Paracchini, special correspondent and fashion critic for Milan's Corriere della Sera (Italy's largest daily newspaper) and the author of Vita Prada, (the much-discussed biography of Miuccia and Patrizio that came out in Italy this past winter) for his take.
From left: The cover of Wall Street Journal magazine; the cover of Paracchini's Vita Prada.Why has Prada has so many problems with IPOs?
Most of those problems can be summed up in one date: September 18, 2001. That was the day Prada was supposed to launch its IPO. Obviously, it was just one week after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and it was unthinkable to go forward. The plan was shelved until June 2004 when it was re-examined and then postponed. Again, in May 2008 there were serious talks of an imminent IPO that was then postponed. Bertelli knows that going public is inevitable, given the debt load -- about 1.5 billion USD -- that the company has incurred, partially due to bad luck (that Bertelli admits) and to some acquisitions which ten years ago seemed like a good idea -- Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, Church, Alaia, Car Shoe, Byblos, Jenny, the Fendi deal made together with LVMH. Bertelli wanted to create the Italian equivalent of PPR and LVMH: hindsight will tell you that it was risky, but it was an excellent idea then and it still makes a lot of sense now. September 11th, speculative bubbles, the most severe recession since 1929 came in the way of an idea that is still very impressive.
How would you define Bertelli's style as a CEO?
The reason Bertelli can still run a successful company given its considerable debt load is that he's the sort of businessman that inspires confidence in the banks - to borrow from equestrian slang, he's a "purebred", someone with the right DNA to succeed. Prada has always reinvested their profits into the company, making Prada look more forward-looking, and they keep such an influential connection to the avant-garde -- the stores designed by star architects, their Fondazione Prada. Banks know that Miuccia and Bertelli know what they're doing, and they know that the whole fashion business always pays a lot of attention to everything Prada does. That's why Bertelli, as CEO, has been allowed to go for an IPO taking his time.
When do you see it happening?
The IPO is not an option, it is a necessity, and it will have to happen before 2012. Late 2010, early 2011 are a reasonable forecast. Bertelli needs to raise money but doesn't really want to sell a large chunk of his and his wife's company to a major partner. He likes being his own boss.
Bertelli and PradaHow do they work together? Bertelli is the sort of man who'll smash mirrors in a store because he thinks that they make people look fat, the man who will clear the room of people who don't work for the company before proceeding to chew out some underling who made a minor mistake. Your book is full of those anecdotes.
They seldom agree about stuff, and even though they recognize their strengths -- she knows he has amazing commercial insights, he knows she's a uniquely creative mind -- the process is very adversarial.
Is it true that she addresses him by his last name?
Yes. She will only say "Il Bertelli" (The Bertelli), a very peculiar Milanese highbrow manner of addressing someone in your close circle. It's how well-to-do, popular, cool high school girls such as young Miuccia would address their school friends. It's affectionate, and it's also very Miuccia. He will simply call her Miuccia, instead, plainly: he's a direct, pragmatic man. He also loves sailing, and like sailors he might use the occasional profanity to drive his point home. They have a very interesting dynamic, the volcanic Tuscan and the cool, aloof Milanese signora.
How did they react to your book? They gave you interviews and quotes but it was not an authorized book.
I had no interest in doing a hatchet job: I wanted to know how you can start from one old school store in Milan's Galleria selling exquisitely made luggage and bags and end up as one of the world's strongest brands in about three decades. He liked the book but he still thinks I put too much emphasis on his famous temper tantrums (tantrums that he has not denied happened). Miuccia liked the book, too, but had a very Miuccia way to convey her impressions: "I don't think I'm as big a bitch as you think, but I had fun reading it," she said.
Look for regular dispatches from our favorite (and anonymous) opera blogger, the Milan-based Opera Chic, every Wednesday. See her previous W posts HERE.
Maison Moschino: Corso Como, the small stretch of closed-to-traffic cobblestone street that boasts Milan's trendiest clubs (Hollywood, Tocqueville) and stores (Eral 55, Boule de neige, Carla Sozzani's 10 Corso Como) welcomes its newest neighbor, Moschino's fashion hotel, which just opened in the middle of Fashion Week last Friday. The first hotel in Milan designed by a fashion label, Maison Moschino offers sixty-five rooms (starting at 250 euros) in 16 assorted, modern styles. There's also an in-house restaurant, Clandestinò -- if you can't get a reservation at Corso Como's Cucina Le Langhe! Viale Monte Grappa 12.
Marc by Marc Jacobs: Marc Jacobs is about to open his first Milan store, in the trendy Brera/Corso Garibaldi neighborhood. Still boarded-up, OC walks by the store in Piazza del Carmine on her way downtown and recalls the half-dozen former shops (a bakery, a stationery store, an antique book store) that were previously in the location, a sprawling 16th century building that buttresses the Santa Maria del Carmine church (which incidentally holds a seasonal antique store where you can buy the most amazing furniture and personal effects in their cloisters). The new space, designed by Stephan Jaklitsch architects, will feature retail space in addition to a bar and cafe, two features that all the cool kids in the city have been adding to their architectural blueprints. Piazza del Carmine 6.
Abercrombie & Fitch: For two years, Milanese stared at the ugly scaffolding on A&F's shuttered facade, waiting patiently for the store to open. Four months ago, the mega-shop finally opened, and barely a day goes by when there isn't a long line wrapping around Corso Matteotti for a meet & greet with their modelesque co-ed sales staff (see above) stationed every 10 feet, swaying in A&F miniskirts, tank tops and flip flops, snapping, "Hi what's up how you doing" in endearingly run-on English. The soaring, muraled interiors of the four-floor palazzo, designed in 1939 by Italian architect Gio Ponti, are just as entrancing. If the cloying scent of their "Fierce" fragrance doesn't get you high, the experience will. Corso Matteotti 12.
Dsquared2: Wonder Twin powers, activate! Form of an awesome Milan boutique! The Canadian twins, Dean and Dan Caten, inspired by their Canadian roots, created a sleek yet earthy store, a dichotomy that totally works. A facade of matchstick wooden slats, the interior looks like a sexy cottage full of wooden stumps and deer antler lamps. There's also a separate bar in black leather that serves Mumm champagne if you're into liquid lunches. Via Verri 4.
Stella McCartney: A week and a few days old, Stella McCartney's first Milan store shares space in Milan's prime fashion district, just a few paces down from Valentino's iconic Via Monte Napoleone store. Injecting youth into her old-school neighbors' boutiques, McCartney's women's collection is inside a historic, neoclassic palazzo. Two gorgeous floors of sumptuous inlaid wood parquet, detailed plaster, and sculpture make it almost impossible to focus on the clothes. Via Santo Spirito 3. 
Renée Fleming
Juan Diego Flórez
Ian Bostridge
Kate Aldrich
Daniel Harding
Esa-Pekka Salonen
John Axelrod
Nicola Luisotti 
Fabio Luisi
Beckham è tornato! Yes, as of three weeks ago, David Beckham is back in Milan. As any Becks fan knows, the 34-tear-old soccer star spends part of his year—from January until May—playing for the Berlusconi-owned team A.C. Milan. While Victoria mostly stays back in LA with the kids, the English midfielder, now in his second season on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, has settled into a relatively low-key Milan routine. He's managed to win over the locals with a tactful approach to his celebrity, plowing through games diligently and avoiding the infamous Milan nightclub scene that has derailed more than a few soccer careers. So what are David's favorite Milan haunts? Let Opera Chic be your guide.
1. Hotel Principe di Savoia Milano: Known as "il Principe," the 83-year-old, five-star hotel is where Becks calls home while in Milan. Beckham stays in the Presidential Suite, three-bedroom penthouse apartment and it's the only hotel suite in the country with its own private spa (swimming pool included). Previous guests of the suite include the Queen of England, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Michael Jackson and George Clooney (who once racked-up a cool $35,000 in damages playing bocce on the suite's marble floors, according to one report). As for his behavior in the hotel, no tantrums or suite trashings have been reported to date! 
2. Acanto restaurant: The Italian restaurant inside Hotel Principe di Savoia is a simple elevator ride downstairs for the star. Beckham's generally the most casually dressed patron there (think PRPS jeans, Abercrombie sweatshirt and white Adidas kicks), but don't assume that the same dress code applies to you! At 
6. Dal Bolognese Ristorante: As personal guest of Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, Beckham has been spotted dining at Bolognese, a Cavalli favorite, steps from Principe's entrance. Dal Bolognese Ristorante, Piazza della Repubblica 13, 20124.
8. Spazio Armani: Although Becks is no longer the face (and hot body) of Armani's underwear line—another soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal just replaced him—he's known to haunt the sleek labyrinth of Armani's three-floor, downtown mega-mall, after hours, of course. 
9. Nobu: Beckham's weakness for sushi is indulged at Milan's Nobu, located within Armani's mega mall on Via manzoni (above). Beckham frequently dines there with Armani's own family and staff, whom he's known for years. [He also joins Armani sometimes at his nearby Via Borgonuovo residence for supper.] 
10. Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana's house: When Victoria's in town, the couple often heads over to Domenico & Stefano's private residence on Via Mozart (Milan's most privé street) for an intimate dinner party. Posh reportedly has an aversion to eating with people she doesn't know, but she's very much at home with the designers, both longtime friends. Via Mozart, 20122.
Miuccia Prada's favorite opera is Puccini's Tosca (she's been known to sing the most famous arias for her closest friends when she's in the mood). But she had never designed costumes for an opera—until now. On February 23, La Miuccia will premiere her designs for Verdi's Attila at the Metropolitan Opera. (It will mark the first performance of Attila at the Met, as well as maestro Riccardo Muti's own Met debut). Making the design cognoscenti even giddier, the sets will be designed by Herzog and de Meuron. 
Last March, when Emanuel Ungaro was invited to design costumes for a production of Berlioz's Faust in Naples (above), he first had to reassure the public, "Non sono abiti sfuggiti ad una sfilata!" ("There won't be dresses that escaped from a runway show!")
Look for regular dispatches from our favorite (and anonymous) opera blogger, the Milan-based
Even though we don't get to the opera nearly as much as we'd like to (damn you, MTV and Jersey Shore!) we do like to keep abreast of the opera and classical music scene through the brilliant anonymous blogger based out of Milan known as Opera Chic. (See our previous interview with her 
When you're going and what you're seeing matters too.
If you really want to know what's going on in the opera world in all its blood, guts, glory, missteps, tantrums and fashion fits and flops, there's one blog to read: 
