For the Max Mara Resort 2021 collection, Ian Griffiths offered a new more feminine, poetic and romantic take on the Max Mara signature essential, rigorous elegance. The collection was dedicated to the magnificence and magic of St. Petersburg. Built on a single vision of neo-classical harmony, the city reflects Max Mara’s love of order and good design.

Max Mara imagined Prince Felix and Princess Irina in the gilded salons of the Yusupov Palace at the height of the Belle Epoque. Surrounded by the glories of ages past, they were visited by visions from the future – visions that speak of things to come; the machine age, constructivism, modernity.

Max Mara had the privilege of access to the State Hermitage Museum archives, to see the finery worn by Felix, Irina and their guests up close; the inspiration for a series of pieces in extravagant fil coupé fabrics and ornate embroideries. Worn by princes, counts and generals, the Hermitage archive yields ceremonial uniforms which inspired the antique looking braids that highlighted the collar of a tuxedo, and a new take on the kosovorotka. In exquisite, dusty hues, rococo florals borrowed from the Yusupovs’ palatial staterooms are worked into the neo-constructivist mix, articulating the contrasts that are central to the collection’s story.