Passion and Protection
Review of Max Mara Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Romantically enveloping luxury. Prepared outerwear.
For Fall 2025, endlessly consistent creative director Ian Griffiths continues his quiet evolution of timeless luxury at Max Mara with a smart balance of romantic, cocooning luxury and utilitarian functionality.
Griffiths is often inspired by woman artists, and backstage he explained that he was re-reading the Brontë sisters and listening to Mendelssohn on repeat while designing the collection. That romantic, historical mindset infuses the collection, with a core silhouette of a belted waist and a wide, flowing skirt feeling particularly emblematic. Some looks even feature capes with oversized hoods, perfect for walking the moors in inclement Yorkshire weather and lamenting a lost love.
Tailored outerwear continues to be the brand’s bread and butter, with Griffiths’ iconic revival of the Teddy Coat of course being his signature. Long cashmere coats extend that spirit as they envelop the body and flow with beautiful languor. Extending that sumptuous romanticism, the first five looks are executed in a deep, velvety red.
Ian Griffiths’ woman is not one to simply sit and brood, and there were some smart, functional details that brought his romantic heroine up to speed with 21st-century functionality: oversized cargo pockets, slick crossbody bags, and super cool sunglasses.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
The mood of the Brontës was so right. It’s a moment where this woman who’s been applying herself through cold logic to climbing the corporate ladder all these years and has been denying herself this inner passion – and with the world as it is she has to finally find an expression for it. She becomes something she can no longer conceal.” – Ian Griffiths
THE WRAP UP
From economic headwinds that are reshaping the luxury industry to wider political and environmental concerns, there’s no shortage of reasons to turn inward toward brooding melancholy or outward to escapist fantasy. Ian Griffiths never misses a beat, and he manages to reflect both of these responses while heading to the country for a considered exploration of romantic self-reliance. Romantically wrapped in her warm cashmere coat, Max Mara’s quietly passionate protagonist is ready to face down the cold.
