SAUGUS — At a site familiar to many residents, the long-closed Karla’s Shoes, a sign for an Italian luxury brand has cropped up, leading to more questions than answers.
Saugus has not been home to any of the brands owned by the big fashion conglomerates, such as the Prada Group, LVMH, or Kering. However, with the appearance of a Prada sign at the Karla’s Shoes building, that might be changing.
Raf Simons, the Belgian co-creative director at Prada, has long been a bit of a fashion oddball, frequently drawing from countercultures like punk for his work with Prada, Dior, Calvin Klein, and his own namesake brand.
A Prada store opening in a long-abandoned location would seem to fall right in line with Simons’ ethos, no? What is more punk than that?
On a piece of land situated right off of Route 1, which was once filled with iconic establishments such as the Hilltop Steak House and the mini-golf course with the giant orange dinosaur, wouldn’t it seem just right for Italian luxury to rear its head next?
After all, there is a Prada “store” in middle-of-nowhere Marfa, Texas — although it does not sell any goods and has been officially classified as a museum since 2014.
Could it be that Prada Saugus is an art installation in the same vein?
Have Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, the duo behind the Marfa location, chosen Saugus as the home for their latest project? Only time will tell.
With many in town viewing the building in an unfavorable light, an art installation, Prada or not, could potentially fill art-loving residents with delight.
A post from a popular local Facebook page, Boston’s Wicked Northshore, has more than 300 comments speculating about what the sign could mean. Are the people clamoring for luxury, or are they just really excited about art installations?
Neither Prada nor Elmgreen and Dragset have responded to requests for comment regarding the signage.
