A country where even black is color and where the
saudade
of fado – this Portuguese blues – gives you a feeling of sweet reverie and wonder can only be inspiring.
In any case, this is what Ian Griffiths, the discreet and talented English director of creation Max Mara, who has officiated for thirty years for the Italian brand, said to himself.
For his 2023 cruise, he therefore chose to pack his bags in Lisbon.
“When I look for locations for our cruise shows, I always think of a destination that everyone has ideas about without necessarily having been there.
When you say Lisbon, an image comes to mind.
It is a city full of romanticism, charm, character where the new and the old blend harmoniously, where heritage and tradition rub shoulders with modernity and creativity.
And she has so much to tell.
I was particularly inspired by one woman in particular, a poet, politician and intellectual, who for me represents the heart, soul, passion and spirit of this great capital.
Her name was Natália Correia.”
Lisbon culture and fado legends
Starting point of the collection: Natália Correia, therefore, an important figure in 20th century Portuguese literature and a tireless activist against fascism in her country.
It was on a pop art painting by Nikias Skapinakis that Ian Griffiths discovered the figure of this exceptional woman: she is represented there with two other women seated at her feet, the novelist Fernanda Botelho and the pianist Maria-João Pires.
“I read everything I could on Natália, explains Ian Griffiths.
Her intelligence, her particular vision of erotically liberal feminism and her festive spirit are the traits that struck me the most about her.
A strong woman of Lisbon culture just like Amália Rodrigues, the legend of Portuguese fado whose long black pleated dress in taffeta, with a deliberately dramatic and powerful romanticism,
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Carminho, the star fado singer and model during the Max Mara fashion show in Lisbon.
Max Mara press
Another muse in the collection which combines the country's history with the present: the very beautiful Carminho, representative of the young generation of fado singers, a real star in Spain and Portugal.
Claire Danes in front row
Tuesday, 8 p.m., the guests settle in the tropical garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a museum with brutalist architecture which houses an extraordinary collection of works of art and paintings covering four millennia, from the statuettes of the Egyptian antiquity up to the paintings of Renoir or Manet.
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Claire Danes.
Max Mara Press
In the front row, stars (Claire Danes), actresses from trendy series (Ashley Park, Mindy from
Emily in Paris
), Portuguese personalities and students from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon with whom Max Mara has established a creative partnership.
Chic and sensual
The first passage – a girl all in black in fishnet stockings and a playsuit embroidered with rhinestone black flowers, revealing her shapely legs under a long coat with a raised hood immediately announces the color.
The ardor and sensuality of Natália Correia have been reinterpreted here in a refined modernity.
His wardrobe in 2023?
Pencil skirts associated with shirts with puffed sleeves or very sensual and low-cut mesh cropped tops.
But also long pleated dresses that leave the shoulders bare and high-waisted white pants worn with bustier tops.
This is Max Mara's declaration of love for Lisbon
Ian Griffiths
Carminho, whose fado resounds on the podium, also passes in a little black dress that follows the lines of her body.
Long cashmere coats or the brand's iconic Teddy Bear warm the bare legs and shoulders of these elegant and fiery heroines.
The colors of passion
In the evening, they go out in long, belted, pleated taffeta dresses whose intense monochrome colors – purple, ultramarine blue, bottle green, orange-red, saffron yellow – illuminate the lush greenery surrounding the Gulbenkian Museum.
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Cruise Collection 2023 Max Mara press Max Mara
The collection is also inspired by the “
lenços dos namorados
”, these handkerchiefs of love on which young Portuguese women used to sew hearts, flowers and colorful doves in a naive and sophisticated style.
Little poems intended for their fiancé whose spirit Max Mara has transcribed in prints and crystal brooches that adorn the dresses but also on the panels applied to the front of white T-shirts whose embroidery has been done by hand by local artisans.
“It's Max Mara's declaration of love for Lisbon,” concludes Ian Griffiths who, during this cruise, developed numerous projects with the country, including financing the restoration of certain areas of the Gulbenkian museum.
