Fashion Brief
In Cannes, Dior gave us taffeta hotpants with flip-flops; in the Californian desert Louis Vuitton was all about hippie-luxe maxidresses. But November – when these “resort” collections go in store – means something rather different in London. And so it was that Old Bond Street yesterday hosted a Max Mara catwalk featuring rainhoods, trenchcoats, trainers and gloves.
The resort-show circuit is a flash, jetset affair but it reflects a real sea-change in the shopping habits of all of us. We have mostly jettisoned the idea of updating our wardrobes twice a year, in favour of a speeded-up trend cycle that demands constant newness. The resort collections – commercial, wearable clothes that are on sale outside the traditional peak months of September and March – are rising in stock accordingly, and this May have enjoyed a higher profile than ever before.
To celebrate a new London flagship, the Italian brand of Max Mara put London on the resort merry-go-round map with a catwalk show staged at the boutique. Amy Adams, a star of Max Mara advertising campaigns, sat in the front row alongside the Maramotti family, owners of the brand. Fashion editors from Russia, a key market alongside London for Max Mara’s cashmere coats, were flown in for the occasion.
In the absence of desert sunsets or sparkling swimming-pool vistas, a grittier brand of glamour was celebrated. Ian Griffiths, Max Mara’s British designer, pointed to Cecil Beaton’s iconic 1941 Vogue photograph Fashion is Indestructible, which features a model in a Digby Morton suit standing in the Blitzed ruins of Middle Temple, as his inspiration for clothes “dedicated to London style and spirit”.
The clothes at the core of this collection were sleek and urbane. Pinstripe trouser suits, cashmere coats, pencil skirts and trenchcoats were perfectly honed for the Max Mara customer. Nostalgic shades of rose pink and chartreuse, and some fabulous cat’s-eye sunglasses, have the sense of the Beaton era. Spirit and spice were added with accessories in homage to the peacockery of the boxing ring – mink headguards and fluffy mittens, wide M-branded belts and mesh vests – while blowsy flowerprints of peonies and roses revelled in Chelsea Flower Show glory.
