‘Real clothes for real women’: How Max Mara is redefining power dressing
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'Real clothes for existent women': How Max Mara is redefining power dressing
The brand's Resort 2022 collection, conceived by Artistic Director Ian Griffiths, exemplifies that ethos of elegance, strength and timelessness.
Ian Griffiths is the Creative Managing director of Max Mara. (Photo: Alvin Teo)
06 Dec 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 10 Jul 2022 03:40PM)
Ian Griffiths is no stranger to Berlin. The Creative Managing director of Max Mara has visited the German capital to take in its artistic and cultural legacies many times earlier, but on his final trip at that place he had an epiphany.
"I realised that 2022 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, so I thought information technology was a nifty opportunity for Max Mara to show a collection in that location to celebrate the city," he recalled.
What transpired was a showing that not only feted Berlin's indomitable spirit and a turning bespeak in modern history, only besides reiterated the unique spot Max Mara occupies in the globe of mode. Held within the Neues Museum, a landmark once ravaged past war just now restored to its one-time glory, the collection saw Griffiths pull together references from vastly unlike worlds to weave them into a compelling Resort collection.
Griffiths tipped his hat to Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie. One a legendary German vocalizer-actress who stood at the forefront of reinvention, the other a radical pop culture icon who spent his most creative years in Berlin, both were juggernauts whose inimitable, gender-fluid styles have constantly sparked style's collective imagination.
In the hands of Griffiths, their unapologetic and not-conformist attitudes manifested in the grade of bold-shouldered pantsuits and belted coats. The collection'southward hint of rawness came courtesy of sculptural metal bracelets, necklaces and earrings designed in collaboration with Reema Pachachi – those were inspired past the Statuary Age artefacts on display within the hallowed halls of the museum. Griffiths rounded things upwards with delicate floral embellishments inspired by renowned High german porcelain maker Meissen.
This interplay between the structured and fluid, strength and fragility, heritage and modernity is integral to the narrative at Max Mara, an Italian marque that has stood backside powerful women since its establishment in 1951.
Like Maramotti, the iconography of a contemporary working woman is one that Griffiths has explored throughout his 3-decades-and-counting tenure at Max Mara. But with the conversation surrounding women's rights standing to evolve, the designer has skilfully tweaked and updated Max Mara's lexicon to reverberate the changing times.
"The height of that ability dressing phase in 1987 was a very successful formula, but information technology was a uniform. You couldn't actually depart from the strictness of the dress code. Only now, because of a variety of factors such equally social media, women expect – and why shouldn't they? – the opportunity to express themselves a bit more within that lawmaking. Anonymous clothes are no longer acceptable."
To that end, Griffiths has, for the past few seasons, infused Max Mara with an undercurrent of rebellion. He has contrasted the primal free energy of leopard spots with the studied appeal of checks; dipped Max Mara's iconic camel coat in an assortment of electric hues such as cerulean and xanthous; tweaked suiting codes by replacing pants with shorts.
Griffiths likewise enlisted supermodels such as Joan Smalls, Karen Elson and Lara Rock to walk the Max Mara runways as displays of feminine force. Well-nigh notable of all his decision to cast the hijab-wearing, Somali-American model Halima Aden for the fall/winter 2022 flavour. Information technology was one of those game-changing catwalk moments that brought diverseness and inclusivity to the fore.
Despite Griffiths' retooling of Max Mara'southward facade, he has never once strayed from the philosophy of making dress that are rooted in classicism and functionality. It's especially important during an era where fashion has become increasingly frenetic, in part due to the increased speed of communication that comes with advancements in technology.
"A lot of people are confused or disillusioned with the idea of fashion considering it's gotten to the point where ideas would've been consumed manner before whatever kind of products actually hit the stores," he offered.
To Griffiths, even so, this land of flux represents an opportunity for Max Mara: "That'due south why people turn to Max Mara. They see clothes with a real lasting quality, cultural value, and pregnant. Why buy 15 T-shirts that don't really mean annihilation at all when you tin can take a coat to wear for the rest of your life?"
"Why purchase 15 T-shirts that don't actually mean anything at all when you can take a coat to wear for the rest of your life?" – Ian Griffiths
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/real-clothes-for-real-women-max-mara-255751
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