*: THE DESERT WEARS PRADA

FEAR and FANTASY IN TEXAS!
If you were stuck in the desert, what would you need to survive? Water, food, a Prada handbag perhaps?

I have a P.R.A.D.A obsession. Who doesn't? Unlike most people though, its not because I actually like what I see on that catwalk half the seasons - or sometimes at all. I like Prada because like its mother nature Miuccia, every once in a while it pulls off some totally random unexpected creation - and I'm not talking about a handbag. Miccucia is called one of the "worst dressed" by Italians, and in turn she tells other Italians "The more sexy you make yourself appear - the less you will have sex". LOLZ. I love their fashion films, (cleverly disguising fur coats in therapy classes).

I also like that Mui Mui is named after her nickname. Makes me wonder what my nickname label would be. "Legs" or "Der"?

ANYWHO, my ALL TIME favourite peep into the Prada past is, by far, the Prada Store, en Route 90 in Texas, 60 km from the nearest town of Marfa with just 2,500 residents, situated over the rainbow and - definitely the best thing since to happen since the Wizard of Oz and its glittering red slippers. Its a permanently installed non-functioning PRADA store and its an art piece.

.....!!!!Jenius (my mix of jealous and genius), where art and desert collide with tornado Prada.

The Jenius' behind this high end mirage are Berlin based artistic partners Elmgreen and Dragset, the Art Production Fund and Muiccia Prada, who personally selected the genuine Prada shoes and handbags from the fall/winter 2005 collection.

Im very interested in the dark forces of fashion in all its temperance and exclusiveness and this lonely Prada store in the middle of the Texan desert playing with this idea of being hyper exclusivenes's genius to me. Fashion is so dependant on the consumer, yet the shop is forever closed and placed at a very remote location. Art for all its eternity and vanity have collided well with the hear and now of fashion (in Texas heh heh).

This collision and collaboration of artworlds and fashion industries serves as a surrealist commentary on Western materialism - there's a dry sense of irony and a strange sense of odd isolation. The idea that so many people have and will pass through (myself included) I find strangely moving and powerful. Power Full Prada.

For both the sake of art world and the fashion industry, its one big challenge of the future will be to dare to be more inclusive, without being populist. If fashion likes a challenge then thats the one!

FACTS on P.M Route 90 Marfa, TX, 79843

1. TEXAS does not actually have a Prada Store (a real one.)

2.It cost $80,000 (40 Prada Handbags)

3. It's built with “earth-friendly”, biodegradable materials and was never intended to be repaired or require upkeep - The idea is that it will slowly melt into Prada oblivion over Prada time.

4. All the shoes are right footed and chosen by Miuccia Prada herself from the Fall 2005 collection - suitable for Aliens, high end podiatrists and/or a person with 2 right feet.

5.Lets face the facts, its a fab place for a garage sale, hitchhiking and a SpiderChav sighting!

6. Prada Marfa is actually a trap set by fashion obsessed aliens, a sealed time capsule, meant to attract potential abductees. Cowboys, Spiderchavs and Models:

BEWARE.