Camera Obscura
Review of Sportmax Fall 2024 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
Fall 2024 sees Sportmax draw on the theme of the photographer’s darkroom and 80s power dressing to create an atmosphere of slick, powerful style and graphic mystery.
Anchored by slim waists and powerful shoulders, the collection unfolds across a palette of black, blue, and white punctuated by vividly saturated reds. The chromatic scheme – further emphasized by the runway lighting – recalls a photographer’s dark room, where moments of revelation happen as an image develops. This theme is pushed by use of bold graphics and text that recall 80s punk zines and the work of the Guerilla Girls.
A final taste of the 80s is detectable in the way the collection subtly evokes the visions of the future of that time – we can detect, for example, a bit of Blade Runner and The Terminator. An era’s ideas of the future, of course, tell you more about that era itself. While with the rise of AI and weaponized mass surveillance, we can definitely see that some of their predictions are becoming eerily true, we also – thankfully – no longer live in a world that is so male-centric. Sportmax provides a wardrobe for the seductive, artistic, and powerful woman with one foot in the present and one foot in the future.
THE BUZZWORDS
Sleek. Powerful. Darkly seductive.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #47
Though it seems simple, this look subtly plays with the proportions of the 80s men’s power suit in just about every way possible: hiding the buttons, creating a more wrap-like closure, elongating the sleeves, rethinking the tie in a way that almost suggest leather kink gear, and tucking it into a velvet skirt. A potent summation of the collection’s moody twists on 80s elegance.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP-UP
Max Mara’s cooler younger sister continues to be one of the most underlooked brands on the Italian fashion circuit, consistently putting out strong collections that balance a strong and seductive take on luxury classics with conceptual ingenuity. With its punchy use of graphics and clever updates on the defining style of an era that was very concerned with power and the future, this collection is another great example of the brand’s successful fashion practice.
