For the Max Mara spring/summer 2024 collection, unveiled as part of the ongoing Milan Fashion Week, creative director Ian Griffiths looked back to the Second World War and the British Women's Land Army.
With the men away fighting, these women were left to keep the country running and had to learn new skills, from farming and animal husbandry to car mechanics, to help keep the nation fed.
The clothes they dressed in as they worked were Griffiths's launch pad, as he explored the utilitarian codes of overalls, dungarees and work aprons through the refined prism of Max Mara.
In a show walked by Somali-Danish model Mona Tougaard, British-Moroccan model Nora Attal, and Egyptian-Moroccan-Dutch model Imaan Hammam, the collection nodded to these women of eight decades ago with aprons wrapped around the body to make simple dresses with straps.
There were pencil skirts with wide, patch pockets that seemed to float around the hips and slightly masculine jackets, worn with the collars flipped up.
Jumpers arrived with large, military patches on the shoulders and elbows, and worn with short shorts.
“I didn’t want to interpret a military trend in a way that was warlike,” Griffiths tells The National backstage after the spring/summer 2024 show.
“It sounds a bit contradictory to say I wanted to do a military theme but in a pacifist way, but the expression 'turn swords into ploughshares' came to mind, from the book of Isaiah.”
For Griffiths, the idea of transforming something military into something peaceful was embodied by the Women's Land Army.
“These women were not fighting a war, they were feeding themselves and their families, They were learning about co-operation and teamwork, which is something that women seem to be very good at.”
For all its military leanings, the collection felt very British, albeit with its stiff-upper-lip formality unbuttoned by Italian style.
“In all the years I have been at Max Mara – which is 37 – we have never done an English-inspired theme,” Griffiths says. “And I am so English, so I thought I would bring a bit of that into the picture.”
In Griffiths's hands, overalls were slimmed to a jumpsuit in putty, worn with a crossbody bag, while dungarees appeared folded down and teamed with a silken blouse the colour of a caffe latte.
Amid the discreet neutral tones so typical of Max Mara, there was plenty of colour too, lifted apparently from Griffiths's own garden in the UK.
“I was thinking very much about sweetpeas in my garden,” he says. “The colours are just so exquisite, going from mauves and pinks, to fuchsia, whites and blues.
“I wanted to get some of those colours into the collection.”
To give a feel of women perhaps home-dying their clothes, Griffiths chose to garment-dye the looks, or to make the clothes first and dye them afterwards.
It gives shifting shades of the same colour and, as he explains, brings a different mood.
“Each piece will come out slightly differently, and [garment dying] gives the clothes a flavour you don’t get in clothes where the fabric is dyed first.”
For a house known for its elegant precision, this is something of a departure.
But Griffiths explains it was all very intentional, and centred on the idea of “more personality, more character coming through in the clothes”.
While the clothes were practical yet relaxed, the bags shifted from a multi-pocketed canvas tote to a hard-sided mini box in gleaming leather, inspired by the vintage leather cases that would have held binoculars or measuring instruments.
“The kind of bag you keep something precious in because they are hard-sided. It felt like a new bag shape.
“And the other shape was the gardening bag. The gardening bag and the gardening apron, too, were directly inspired by my garden,” says Griffiths.
“Whatever we do, I like to interpret in a way that is elegant. That is key.
“I believe in clothes that have a certain kind of toughness and grit to them. But I hate clumsy clothes or those that are overly loud, so elegance is a word that I am happy to hear, because that is what I was aiming for.”
Naga
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If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
GROUP RESULTS
Group A
Results
Ireland beat UAE by 226 runs
West Indies beat Netherlands by 54 runs
Group B
Results
Zimbabwe tied with Scotland
Nepal beat Hong Kong by five wickets
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
57%20Seconds
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
Company%20profile
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SPECS
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Final round
25 under - Antoine Rozner (FRA)
23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)
21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)
20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)
19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Results:
5pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600 metres
Winner: Dasan Da, Saeed Al Mazrooei (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Saabah, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Mukaram, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: MH Tawag, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) | Dh70,000 | 1,400m
Winner: RB Inferno, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Juthoor, Jim Crowley, Erwan Charpy
