Prada personalizes a cult classic

Call for change

Investing in a new experience

Prada has long been driven by a commitment to innovation. For the latest launch of its famous America’s Cup sneaker, the brand was inspired to create an online customization experience seldom found in the world of luxury products.

Prada envisioned a 3D web configurator that would allow a customer to select from a range of materials and colors and add their initials to the sneakers. This would require creating a digital twin of the shoe—a virtual model designed to accurately reflect the physical object.

The 3D model of the shoe needed to meet the brand’s quality and fidelity standards compared to the physical model, and the configurator needed to be accessible on a wide variety of browsers and devices. And finally, to ensure a seamless user experience while making selections, Prada wanted the configurator to load quickly. All in all, the project would mark a significant digital leap for the brand—and help Prada pioneer new experiences steeped in traditional luxury.

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When tech meets human ingenuity

Luxury product, luxury configurator

Prada and Accenture worked together to create a digital twin that faithfully reflected every detail of the physical shoe’s size, shape, materials and colors. From there, the team developed a state-of-the-art configurator that takes customers on a clearly guided customization journey. Throughout the process, users can interact with the 3D model of their custom shoe in 360 degrees.

Since it would be impossible to pre-render 2D images for the more than 50 million possible shoe configurations, the team devised an innovative, real-time rendering server. As a customer designs a shoe, the rendering server generates high-resolution images of that particular configuration to be distributed across Prada’s various systems in seconds. Once the shoe has been finalized and purchased, the production team uses the accompanying images to fulfill the order accurately. Finally, an enhanced version of the configurator was built for use in Prada stores.

A valuable difference

The next wave of customization

Prada launched the web configurator in just four months, followed by the in-store version three weeks later. Defined by self-sufficient simplicity to help customers successfully navigate their path to purchase, the customization experience surpassed expectations across the board. The 3D model of the shoe is highly realistic, and the configurator loads in just a few seconds—exceeding Prada’s initial target loading speed. But the most forward-thinking element is the rendering server, which generates 4K images of custom builds in real time. And with a scalable cloud architecture, the solution enables Prada to apply the same strategy to other products. In fact, the team has already delivered a similar configurator for the brand’s Galleria handbag.

Along with delighting customers with new experiences in luxury product customization, Prada is showing it can find new ways to grow. Ultimately, the America’s Cup sneaker project is helping a heritage brand sail into the next decade.