It’s been a busy 24 hours for the house of Max Mara, which staged a collection of mellifluous mode inspired by Colette on Thursday morning. A day after Max & Co presented clothes with a soupcon of Courrèges.
Max Mara: A sensual Colette for the 21st century
Colette, the French literary sensation, was the inspiration behind the latest collection of Max Mara, and the provocative bohemian turned out to be an inspired choice.
Max Mara’s creative director Ian Griffiths has always loved an intellectual leit motif, and the choice of Colette, the first French woman of letters to be granted a state funeral, led to a brilliant expression of quiet yet powerful luxury.
Working with lean cocoon silhouettes and bomber shapes inspired by the Belle Epoque to create clothes for the professional Max Mara woman that were less about the board room and more about the boudoir. Even playing with a shape Ian himself developed back in 1985 as a student when he created a bubble backed dress in college for his then tutor Ossie Clark.
Griffith’s principal materials were double face cashmere, dense jersey and cable knits. Cutting perfectly hung cabans; capes zippered at the front, and even some languid djellabas – often worn with 1920s camisoles and camiknickers. All anchored by a new high-heel loafer with golfer tassels, as the cast marched in the huge former ice rink, Palazzo del Ghiaccio.
“I have always been transported by Colette to somewhere beautiful and elegant and sensual, but also rebellious, which makes me think of myself,” explained Griffiths.
The UK born designer also referenced the photography of Lartigue, and his images of Parisian ladies strolling in the Bois de Boulogne. Leading to long blouses with samurai sleeves, wide pants and shirt jackets with flap pockets.
All shown on a cast that included a half dozen polished veterans: from Natasha Poly in a magnificent plenipotentiary’s sweeping cloak and Guinevere Van Seenus in a pale putty double face coat with Pierre Cardin collar.
“It seems like a moment when black, blue and gray are modern,” insisted Griffiths, who showed midnight blue cocktails embossed with dark jade and crystals in geometric patterns, the better to wear during the day and at night.
It helped that the collection was impeccably styled by veteran US Vogue editor Tonne Goodman, balancing the sense of luxury and understatement, with a dash of panache. All shown on a cast with elegant chignons.
“Style and not fashion,” concluded Goodman, in a sibylline comment.
Max & Co: Sixties futurism for today
A marriage made in the Sixties at Max & Co, the youth-orientated Max Mara line which this season linked up with British print master extraordinaire Richard Quinn.
The London designer and his team travelling to Max Mara’s famed archive in Emilia Romagna, where Quinn was smitten by their remarkable collection of 60s shapes, silhouettes and even fabrics.
“I first spoke to Max Mara in Paris in 2018, so after several years of conversation it felt like the right time. We loved discovering the 1950s and 60s couture pieces in their archives. It was a very good learning experience,” explained the ever affable Quinn.
The result was witty and plays on Sixties prints and a whole idea of futuristic elements, even using plastic covered jersey, a very Courrèges material, in some great party frocks and coats. Created in modernist polyester and Lycra – to impart a sporty feel to the collection, even if many of the looks were hyper printed jackets.
“It’s quite Space Age – in marked contrast to my own romantic prints. We wanted very graphic,” added London-born Quinn, who mimicked old 60s tile prints, with repeat patterns in jerkins and puffers.
The result was a collection that was casual, easy wearing but had impact. It all felt at home in a presentation in on the top floor of Terrazza Martini, a 15-story building that is a temple of 1950s Italian modernist designs, offering views over the whole of Milan.
“I think of my company as a design studio, with our own line, bridal and bespoke, and a studio that can work with a lot of people. This season with Max & Co, and that has been great,” noted Quinn, who hosted a dinner later in the evening, above the Italian fashion capital, with its ever-changing skyline of new skyscrapers.
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