February 24, 2022 |
Teddy Bear coats, oversized puffers and quilted nylon micro skirts. A modern cocooning uniform to keep out the cold. Max Mara’s creative director, Ian Griffiths, delved into the early avant-garde movement for inspiration, the Dadaist world of Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Wassily Kandinsky and primarily sculptor and dancer Sophie Taeuber-Arp, who also created costumes and puppets. This was a time before the First World War and between the wars, a lineup of modernist thinkers. Oddly prescient perhaps as we attend shows here with freedom in Italy, while Russia launches a full-scale invasion against Ukraine, only 1626 kms away.
The shows go on, for now… The Max Mara aesthetic as ever lush with mohair textures, rich with cosy greys and camels. “Slouch and swagger” suggested the show notes and so it was delivered with wide-legged, high-waisted cavalry twill trousers and yet the tomboyish was tempered with the new thigh length part boot, part legging. The Max Mara front row sighed and felt safe and took strength from this warmth – as comforting as a favourite teddy bear can be.
Photography courtesy of Max Mara.
