Luxury is order of the day at Max Mara fashion show

 
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10 April 2012

While in Britain, fashion is all about pushing boundaries in Italy, making money is the key orientation.

No where is this more evident than at Max Mara show. This morning as the label which is valued at 1.2 billion unveiled it's latest autumn/winter collection at Milan Fashion week, a determination to drive capital and increase sales appeared to be top of the agenda.

Typically for Max Mara - which was founded in 1951 - coats with bank busting price tags were this collection's mainstay. Crafted from a host of luxurious textiles which included angora, devore and camel hair, some featured alligator-skin buckles and inset panels while others were finished with leather trims. Luxurious double-cashmere lent a soft, textured appearance to flannel wool. The silhouette was sculptural and importantly for a clothing chain that has over two thousand stores across ninety countries, looked likely to flatter a host of body types.

Apparently inspired by a strong, determined woman, the collection had an androgynous and utilitarian theme. Amongst the most amiable coats on offer was a beautifully cut, yet inherently simple, sludge green pea-coat. An oversized hooded coat with a low-slung belt also stood out.

Also on the catwalk this morning was a reinterpreted version of Max Mara's signature camel coat which came trimmed with a matt leather collar and camel hair cuffs.

Of course to justify a show at Milan Fashion Week, Max Mara had to showcase some sort of creativity and it did this through a series of outfits which appeared entirely different from the front from how they looked at the back. A blouson effect allowed the back of a simple Crombie-style coat to billow behind the model as she walked.

Also in today's show was a series of perfect fitting pencil skirts crafted from leather and alligator skin which will delight Max Mara's loyal customers. A loose-fitting parachute style dress which came with leather dungaree-straps was also on offer.

While Max Mara's latest offering will have done little to excite the senses of its critics who watched from the front row, that was arguably, never the intention.

In a financial climate in which having cash in the till is the only objective of almost every fashion business, this morning's show was an acute example of a clothing brand that understands what its customers want.

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