Max Mara puts on strong but sultry catwalk at Milan Fashion Week as signature camel coat takes centre stage

The collection is set to delight the 21st century Max Mara customer with a need for a hardworking wardrobe
Karen Dacre25 February 2016

Fräulein Max Mara was first on the catwalk in Milan today when the Italian luxury label unveiled a collection that suggested it had been looking to Berlin to create its latest autumn/winter offering.

Inspired by New Machine Age girls and the idea that some of the most interesting early feminists could be found within the iconic Bauhaus - where female students outnumbered men - the brand debuted flat front trousers, dual layer suit jackets and inspired muscle back dresses which evoked the 1920s.

Models sporting dark ruby lipstick, finger wave curls and neat leather gloves severed to confirm the idea that this was a collection with which the brand looked to make the women who made things happen in film, architecture and science to become its heroines.

Strong but sultry, this result was an upbeat and entirely wearable Max Mara showcase which is set to delight the 21st century Max Mara customer. After all, like the protagonist on the catwalk today, she too is a woman with a need for a hardworking wardrobe.

Max Mara at Milan Fashion Week AW16

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Accordingly, monochrome stripes, blazers and boiler suits were among the most utilitarian pieces on offer.

Keen to allow their customer the opportunity to look feminine but never whimsical, the brand unveiled an angular silhouette and a block colour palette which saw orange appear alongside sunshine yellow and candy floss pink. Patch pockets, a recurring feature throughout, further harness the idea that these are clothes for a woman to work in.

And then of course, came the coats. While Max Mara makes a considerable amount of its profits through the sale of office friendly attire, it has long considered outerwear its bread and butter.

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To this end, its signature camel coat took centre stage today. Refashioned in a host of guises and in textiles from washed alpaca - which gave the collection a lived-in feel - to treated plastic, Max Mara’s most ubiquitous item was also its greatest strength today.

At a show which took place less than twenty four hours after the Italian Prime Minister attended a lunch to open Milan Fashion Week, Max Mara's commercially savvy show seemed particularly apt.

"This is a very important moment in Italy because we invest a lot in the future" said Matteo Renzi , "We have a great past, but we need a great future, and this is the challenge.”

Max Mara is poised for the task.

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