When Nora Helmer slammed the door on her husband, ending her marriage with a bang In a doll’s house, this sound was heard all over the world. And so it continues: look at Jessica Chastain’s Tony Award nomination for this year’s Broadway revival. The distance between Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play and the fashion collection of 2023 may seem like a huge leap. But, says Max Mara creative director Ian Griffiths, the playwright “was talking about women breaking out of this stifling bourgeois existence. Then, in the 1950s, Max Mara was founded by Achille Maramotti, who stated that his intention was to provide the wife of a local doctor or local lawyer with liberating clothing so that she could become independent. In this sense, Max Mara could almost have been written by Ibsen.”
This link did not appear out of thin air. Griffiths immersed himself in all things Scandinavian ahead of the brand’s 2024 resort show in Stockholm. His fact-finding mission was a snapshot of Sweden’s history of women’s liberation, from the surprisingly gender-progressive Vikings to Queen Christina, who abdicated the throne in 1654, perhaps in part because she refused to marry. He eventually settled on writer Selma Lagerlöf, who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909. “I wanted to find one personality that could sum up all the different strands running through the collection,” says Griffiths. Lagerlöf fit the bill “because she fought against so many exciting conventions.”
Max Mara Resort 2024.
Griffiths found the region’s approach to design, which he describes as “accessible and democratic”, to be similar to Max Mara’s. Edvard Munch’s portraits of women in buttoned-up silhouettes inspired the gigot sleeves that adorned some pieces. And Griffiths combined the darkness of Scandinavian fairy tales with all-black, textured ensembles. “I wanted to show a slightly gothic dimension,” he says. “This is a collection that explores light and shadow.” Even the brand’s classic Teddy Bear coat has received some embellishments. “At Max Mara, we don’t often look at folk suits,” says Griffiths, given that the Italian brand has long been known for its clean silhouettes. But after visiting places like the Norse Folk Museum in Oslo, Griffiths became drawn to the tassels and studs that adorned many traditional costumes. This turn toward maximalism would not have been expected in a time of so-called quiet luxury, especially from one of the brands that defined the term. Griffiths states that he “deliberately doesn’t think about trends. To achieve something original, you need to follow your instinct. When everyone is talking about quiet luxury, you find yourself doing something more decorative and distinctive.”
Max Mara Resort 2024.
The June show marked the international brand’s first resort event in Stockholm ahead of Midsommar. The tradition of Septem Flores, where people collect seven types of flowers and sleep with them under their pillow in hopes of seeing their future lover in their dreams, inspired the show’s flower crowns and floral prints. It also served as the title of the collection. The day before the show, the brand held a dinner on an island outside the city center. Guests like Lily Collins and Lili Reinhart mingled, some wearing flower crowns and white dresses, following tradition. Then it’s time for the show, which takes place at Stockholm City Hall, where the annual Nobel Prize awards banquet takes place. Griffiths “wanted to highlight the obvious superiority” before cheekily suggesting that Max Mara be nominated for the award. The building, designed by Ragnar Østberg, is “a bit like a fairytale castle,” says Griffiths. “It gave an appropriate sense of occasion, but also, I hope, a sense of magic.”
This story appeared in the November 2023 issue of ELLE.
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ELLE Fashion Director
Véronique Hyland is the fashion director of ELLE magazine and the author of the book. Dress code, which was chosen as one of the New Yorker The best books of the year. Her writings have previously been published in New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, W, NY magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, And Conde Nast Traveler.