The most striking thing about the new Prada store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood isn’t the round glass elevator or the sloping wood floor that displays $500 shoes.
Nor is it the see-through raincoats in cages or the clear dressing room doors, made of liquid crystal panels that darken for privacy when shoppers step inside.
The real magic in the fashion house’s 17,000-square-foot store is the technology behind the scenes — innovations that other retailers are also looking to adopt.
Using a technology called radio frequency identification that embeds data in clothing tags, Prada sales associates armed with handheld computers can find out a lot on the spot. What sizes of that blouse are still in stock? What materials are in it?
