EXP 3 Mash Up

From as far as California and Georgia, Americans flocked here to experience something that once was unimaginable. They were here to experience history. On inauguration eve, the sight alone of a stretched limousine was sufficient to inspire squeals and shouts of joy. The Madonna moment comes two hours later, when she changes into knee-high silver boots for a television performance. As she walks past, she looks down her nose at me and says, "Who's got the better boots now?" She refers to herself as "the boss" and "the queen" when talking and this is one woman who is more than happy to put her money where her mouth is. Spectators at the inauguration day parade endured six-hour queues, morning chill and a total lack of official communications. There's nothing Miuccia Prada seems to like more than a challenge. She is part spiritualist, part narcissist; part provocative sex symbol, part children's-book author; part artist, part mother; and, thanks to her new aerobi-disco look, she is part retro, part futuristic. She is dressed in an ultra-feminine close-fitting, tie-dyed cardigan, roughly fastened at the waist with a thick, suitably weathered brown-leather belt, not quite matching tie-dyed shirt, below-the-knee dirndl skirt and flat, backless slippers. Any temporarily people-pleasing compromise aside, Miuccia Prada is, at heart, "a risk-taker". "I don't want a tiny one," she snapped. "I want a big one. I want the prettiest one. Well, I want the best” spoken with an almost evangelical sense of responsibility and matriarchal pride.



Ian Munro, "Man of Attraction: President Obama's Pulling Power at Inauguration," http://www.theage.com.au/world/man-of-attraction-president-barack-obamas-pulling-power-at-inauguration-20090121-7lus.html (Accessed May 11 2009).

Neil Strauss, "Cover Story: How Madonna Got Her Groove Back: Rolling Stone," http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/madonna_got_her_groove_back/page (Accessed May 11 2009).

"Miuccia Prada: The Feeling is Miuccia," http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/miuccia-prada-the-feeling-is-miuccia-570519.html (Accessed May 11 2009).