MY MOODBOARD

Max Mara’s Ian Griffiths on the legendary women who inspired his latest collection.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel
“I’m an avid reader, and I have always been fascinated by the fables of the classical world,” says Ian Griffiths, Max Mara’s Creative Director. Intrigued by retellings of Greek myths from a female perspective, including Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and The Silence of The Girls by Pat Barker, Griffiths decided to base his spring/summer 2019 collection on"a courageous, intrepid woman, somewhere between a goddess of the sea and a modern Amazonian warrior". Models including Kaia Gerber, Karen Elson and Joan Smalls took to the catwalk in the brand's signature stylish outwear, pinched at the waist by wide belts and with frilled detailing at the hem. Griffiths also referenced Max Mara’s own beguiling history with press studs, asymmetric draped skirts and a one-shouldered silhouette that paid homage to the brand's former designer Anne-Marie Beretta. “She defined the dress code for serious-minded women in the ’80s,” says Griffiths. “She’s our very own legend.” .
My Reading Room

BY LUCY HALFHEAD. MOODBOARD AND IMAGES COURTESY OF MAX MARA.