Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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38 michiganavemag.com photography and images courtesy of max mara (sketches, artisan); © nic lehoux/whitney museum (museum façade) "i think rather like an architect. i believe in a certain kind of rigor in a way that you approach design." —ian griffiths an architect… and I believe in a certain kind of rigor in a way that you approach design," he explains. Griffiths draws parallels between the structure of Max Mara's signature coats and that of buildings, emphasizing the ease of the partnership with Piano. The ultimate goal of the Whitney bag project was to create something that ref lected the form of the Whitney's striking, asymmetrical, sculptural shape. "Renzo Piano Workshop from the outset wanted to produce something with the idea of the skin that envelops the building," Griffiths says, accounting for the bag's sleek ridges, which mimic the exterior of the Whitney. The bag's hardware, too, ref lects the Whitney's form—the pieces were crafted based on the Piano team's sketches for the stanchions that secure the museum's tension cables. Made from calf- skin, the bag is available in black, bordeaux, and tan, plus a special-edition version in the identical slate color of the Whitney. Griffiths is also excited about Max Mara's new Pre-Fall collection, which includes a cashmere and silk sweater in a bobcat-print motif. "We really did take the design from the markings of a bobcat, so it is faithful to its inspiration, and for me that represents something quite cool and new and, at the same time, very chic," he says. "On the other side, in the mini- mal theme, is the total red look—the red suit with the red coat over—which a lot of people pinpointed as a highlight of the show and the collection." A native of Derbyshire, England, Griffiths has worked with Max Mara since graduating from the Royal College of Art in London and has a very clear idea of who his client is and exactly what she needs and desires in her wardrobe. Men have it easy, he's realized, being able to rely on simple jacket, jeans, and tie combinations and avoiding the myriad of choices that females are bombarded with. "For a woman, it is so difficult because for any occasion there are any number of possibilities: Do you wear a dress, a suit, a bustier dress, go strap- less? Do you cover up? Do you expose? What do you expose?" he wonders. "I think our responsibil- ity at Max Mara is to give our customers ways of dressing that are going to give them complete con- fidence to get on with their lives." 900 N. Michigan Ave., 312-475-9500; world.maxmara.com MA An artisan creating a Whitney bag ($1,750). top right: The Whitney's striking façade is reflected in the bag's ridges. below, from left: The Whitney bag in slate echoes the color of the new museum's "skin"; sketches from Max Mara's Pre-Fall 2015 collection. STYLE Tastemaker