June 16, 2025 |
Back in 2015, NASA confirmed the presence of water on Mars, world leaders signed the Paris Climate Agreement and crowds flooded Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms around the world. And in New York? The Whitney Museum of American Art cut the ribbon and opened its doors to the public for the very first time, anchoring the Meatpacking District as a new cultural axis. Oh, but that’s not all. To commemorate the momentous occasion, Max Mara threw itself into the mix, called up on the Renzo Piano Building Workshop to collaborate and unveiled the Whitney Bag – a sharply constructed piece that mirrored the building’s faceted steel lines, now a staple in the wardrobes of culturally-attuned women far and wide. A decade on and the Whitney is seeing a rebirth. Enter a new troop of must-have handbags, still in partnership with the American institution, but in 13 pared-back colourways (Max Mara’s strong suit) and with six available sizes.
Architecturally striking, the museum, which resides in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District stands out for its signature ‘ribbed’ facade which sees linear contours climb up the building like industrial staircases. Drawing on these modular elements, Max Mara’s take emerges as an ode to form and function. Sleek and sculptural, the Whitney boasts precise lines, curved geometry and a quiet elegance that speaks volumes. The original limited-edition version, launched via a limited-edition drop, came in a cool, aluminium-toned leather selected to reflect the hue of the museum’s metallic facade at the time (it has since changed hues numerous times). Now, alongside the aforementioned anniversary offering, a ‘five-ribbed’ version of the bag emerges, as well as a reedition of that original silvery Whitney (featuring a vibrant red nappa lining and the distinctive fire-stamped mark: “Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop”) that’s only up for grabs in a limited edition of 125 pieces.
Debuting during the 63rd edition of Salone del Mobile back in April, the reedition Whitney took centre stage at the Max Mara flagship store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele where a surrealist window display, inspired by the metaphysical placed varying sizes of the accessory on oversized plinths, Grecian-style sculptures or saw them suspended mid-air. Then, last month, Max Mara’s mighty flagships across Rome, London, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, New York, Shanghai, Chengdu, Dubai, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong unveiled custom-built window displays dedicated to the iconic bag, with the added draw of in-store events to bring the Whitney to life.
A true design triumph, the Whitney has earned its place not just on the arms of fashion’s elite but in the collections of Paris’s the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.
Happy birthday to the architectural hero of handbags. Max Mara proves once again that great design doesn’t date – it evolves.
Photography courtesy of Max Mara.
