The long game: Ian Griffiths does Max Mara-core
For Spring-Summer 2027, Ian Griffiths looked to the adventurous women of the 1930s to reaffirm Max Mara’s enduring proposition: real clothes for real women. Anders Christian Madsen reviews the show.
As Ian Griffith paraded a slew of excellent coats down his Max Mara runway on Thursday morning, my seatmate and I were discussing which we would or wouldn’t wear. It’s bad manners to chat through a fashion show, but as it turned out, we were so on point. “I hope that everyone watching this show can recognise an aspect of themselves, or someone they can be, within reach. So much of fashion, without being particular about other brands or designers, sort of alienates or makes people feel that they’re not good enough, thin enough or young enough to wear whatever is being presented,” the designer said after the show.
In his creation of a pragmatic, luxurious, real-life wardrobe, Griffiths took inspiration from a dream team of historical muses including the explorer Freya Stark, the wildlife photographer Osa Johnson, the cross-continental driver Eva Dickson, and the aviators Amelia Earhart and Beryl Markham. They all covered his backstage mood board in all their masculine, utilitarian glory, but this wasn’t a narrative collection about the power women of the 1930s. It was a collection about what people want to wear in 2027. “The recurrent theme is the Max Mara woman. This is only a prelude to the real presentation, which will be – for me – seeing women wearing these looks walking down the street,” Griffiths said.
More than ever, we are focusing on the simple mantra of ‘real clothes for real women.’ When we do that, we never go wrong.
Ian Griffith
“More than ever, we are focusing on the simple mantra of ‘real clothes for real women.’ That’s what we do. And when we do that, we never go wrong,” the designer continued. He wasn’t wrong about that. In sticking to the luxurious, flattering, wearable core of Max Mara, Griffiths created a covetable wardrobe of essentials that fused a sense of sensuality with the toughness of his utilitarian source material: things nearly all of us would like to own and wear. “I think it’s a moment now when brands have to establish and develop their identities, because a person comes to Max Mara because they know that it represents a certain attitude and style,” he said.
Because of its timeless appeal, Max Mara is one of the few brands that can comfortably stick to its guns without having to reinvent itself, and without any expectation of doing so. It’s a luxury that isn’t afforded every fashion house, many of which have to push a new creative proposal every season to remain part of the conversation. But, as Griffiths pointed out, “It’s the idea of getting dressed in the morning and going places with a panache that gives you the confidence to get through to the evening.” Whether it’s a classic Max Mara coat that makes you feel that way, or some wild avant-garde concoction, that is the very real-life task for any fashion house out there.
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