It's been a busy 24 hours for the house Max Mara, which on Thursday morning presented a mellifluous fashion collection inspired by Colette. A day later, Max & Co presented the clothes with a Courrèges soup.
Max Mara: a sensual Colette for the 21st century
French literary sensation Colette was the inspiration behind Max Mara's latest collection, and the bohemian provocateur proved an inspired choice.
Max Mara creative director Ian Griffiths has always loved intellectual leitmotifs, and his choice of Colette, the first French woman of letters to be granted a state funeral, created a brilliant expression of luxury. calm but powerful.
Working with slender cocoon silhouettes and Belle Epoque-inspired bomber shapes to create clothing for the Max Mara professional woman that had less to do with the boardroom and more to do with the boudoir. Even playing with a shape that Ian himself developed in 1985 as a student when he created a bubble back dress at university for his then tutor Ossie Clark.
Griffith's main materials were double-face cashmere, dense jersey and cable knits. Cut perfectly hung cabins; zip-front capes, and even some languid djellabas, often worn with 1920s chemises and chemises. All held up by a new high-heeled loafer with golfer tassels, as the cast paraded in the huge old ice rink, Palazzo del Ghiaccio.
“Colette has always transported me to a beautiful place, elegant and sensual, but also rebellious, which makes me think of myself,” Griffiths explained.
The UK-born designer also referenced Lartigue's photography and his images of Parisian ladies strolling through the Bois de Boulogne. Coming to long blouses with samurai sleeves, wide pants and shirt jackets with flap pockets.
All shown in a cast that included half a dozen polished veterans: from Natasha Poly in a magnificent plenipotentiary cape and Guinevere Van Seenus in a pale putty double-faced coat with Pierre Cardin collar.
“It feels like a time when black, blue and gray are cool,” insisted Griffiths, who showed midnight blue cocktails embossed with dark jade and crystals in geometric patterns, best for day and night wear.
It helped that the collection was impeccably designed by veteran US Vogue editor Tonne Goodman, balancing a sense of luxury and sobriety, with a touch of panache. All shown in a cast with elegant bows.
“Style and not fashion,” Goodman concluded, in a sibylline comment.
Max & Co: sixties futurism for today
A union made in the sixties in Max & Co, the youth line of Max Mara that this season joined the extraordinary master of British print Richard Quinn.
The London designer and his team traveled to the famous Max Mara archive in Emilia Romagna, where Quinn was enthralled by his remarkable collection of shapes, silhouettes and even fabrics from the '60s.
“I first spoke to Max Mara in Paris in 2018, so after several years of conversation, I felt the time was right. We loved discovering the couture pieces from the 50s and 60s in their archives. It was a very good learning experience,” explained the always affable Quinn.
The result was ingenious and plays with prints from the sixties and a whole idea of futuristic elements, even using plastic-covered jersey, a very Courrèges material, in some great party dresses and coats. Created in modernist polyester and lycra, to give a sporty touch to the collection, even if many of the looks were hyper-printed jackets.
“It's quite space age, in stark contrast to my own romantic impressions. “We wanted something very graphic,” added London-born Quinn, who imitated old tile prints from the 1960s, with repeating patterns on doublets and quilted jackets.
The result was a casual collection, easy to wear but that had impact. It all felt at home in a presentation on the top floor of Terrazza Martini, a 15-story building that is a temple to 1950s Italian modernist designs and offers views across Milan.
“I think of my company as a design studio, with our own line, bridal and custom, and a studio that can work with a lot of people. This season with Max & Co, and it's been great,” said Quinn, who hosted a dinner later that night, above the Italian fashion capital, with its ever-changing skyline of new skyscrapers.
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