The brand at the heart of the “quiet luxury” trend that has swept through so many design houses for the past couple of years has gone rogue.
Slightly.
For years, Max Mara has been famous for its flawless, unadorned camel coats, nicely judged tailoring and, latterly, for being one of Shiv Roy’s favourite labels on the hit television series Succession. However, showing its resort collection in Venice’s not-remotely-minimalist Doge’s Palace, Ian Griffiths, the company’s Yorkshire-born creative director, took on some of the city’s famous taste for razzmatazz. “For 800 years this city has been a centre of luxury and cross cultural pollination. That seemed like a good basis for a collection,” he says.
Exhibit A: some giant turbans, inspired by Jacopo Tintoretto’s paintings of the Ottomans, who were for centuries Venice’s major public enemy but whose headwear fascinated Italian artists. These were designed by British milliner Stephen Jones, and even if they were specifically for a catwalk rather than real life, made a good case for balancing proportions with a dramatic accessory. “I’ve always wanted to work with Stephen,” says Griffiths, “but starting out, I could never have afforded him. It’s only taken 40 years…”