Patrizio Bertelli
Chairman of the Prada Group since April 2024
Patrizio Bertelli is the chairman of the Prada Group, a role he has held since April 2024. Together with Miuccia Prada he turned a Milanese leather goods house into one of the world's leading luxury groups, serving as co-chief executive until January 2023.
| Role | Chairman of the Board, Prada S.p.A. |
|---|---|
| Chairman since | 24 April 2024 |
| Co-CEO until | 26 January 2023 |
| Born | 1946, Arezzo |
| Known for | Prada's expansion, Fondazione Prada, Luna Rossa |
Who is Patrizio Bertelli?
Patrizio Bertelli is the chairman of the board of the Prada Group, effective from 24 April 2024, and an executive director. He has sat on Prada's board since 2003 and served as co-chief executive alongside Miuccia Prada until 26 January 2023, when Andrea Guerra became chief executive. He is widely regarded as the business architect of Prada's expansion.
Career
Born in Arezzo in Tuscany, Bertelli started his own leather goods business in his early twenties. His professional partnership with Miuccia Prada began at the end of the 1970s, when he started producing leather goods for the family company and then took charge of its industrial and commercial development.
Over the following decades he led Prada's transformation from a single Milan store into an international group. Highlights of his career include:
- developing an integrated production model that kept manufacturing closely controlled, largely in Italy
- building the group's brand portfolio, including Miu Miu and Church's
- the Prada Epicentre stores created with leading architects
- co-founding Fondazione Prada, the contemporary art institution, with Miuccia Prada in 1993
- founding the Luna Rossa America's Cup sailing challenge in 1997
Influence on the fashion business
Bertelli is known for a hands-on, industrially minded approach to luxury. His insistence on controlling production and retail helped Prada defend its quality and positioning as it grew. Later governance changes, including the appointment of a non-family chief executive in 2023, reflect a deliberate shift towards a more structured organisation.
The most significant recent strategic move under his chairmanship is the acquisition of Versace. Prada agreed to buy the Italian house from Capri Holdings in April 2025, and the transaction was completed in December 2025, bringing a second major Italian fashion brand into the group alongside Prada and Miu Miu.
Why it matters
Bertelli's career illustrates the role of the business partner in a designer-led house: building the industrial base, retail network and governance that allow creative work to scale. With the Versace deal, the Prada Group has become a larger Italian luxury consolidator, and his decisions as chairman shape one of the few major luxury groups still controlled by its founding family.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Patrizio Bertelli?
Patrizio Bertelli is the chairman of the Prada Group and the husband and long-time business partner of Miuccia Prada. He co-led Prada as chief executive until January 2023 and became chairman in April 2024.
What is Patrizio Bertelli known for?
He is known for building Prada into a global luxury group through tight control of production and retail, and for founding the Luna Rossa sailing challenge and co-founding Fondazione Prada.