Both Ms Prada and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, the group’s chief executive, have strong personalities. They also own 80% of Prada. For the arrangement to work, the trio “must get on very well”, says Luca Solca of Bernstein, a research firm. It helps that they have known each other since 2005, when Mr Simons worked for Jil Sander, a German label then part of the Prada empire.

A good rapport alone will not guarantee Prada’s revival. That, Mr Solca notes, requires undoing past mistakes. Some, like its drab online presence and recent uninventiveness, which Mr Simons is to tackle, are being reversed. Other errors, notably efforts to narrow its offering and to ape rivals like Hermès and Chanel, and their high prices, have yet to be.

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