Under normal circumstances, MaxMara is a dependable collection in which women seek those most useful, yet maddeningly hard-to-find elements: a jacket or coat with classic dash or—rarest of rare resources—a fantastically cut pair of pants. For Spring, the house design team started off in a promising, safari-inspired direction. Dashing taupe trenches, and heavy-linen bush jackets with a nice drape to them, will go down excellently with that chic, grown-up audience whose route Out of Africa leads via Saint Laurent.
There was a fresh seasonal appeal, too, in the nice contrast between gutsy leaf prints and pretty eyelet elements. But what horror transpired in the MaxMara pant department? Everyone knows the label s trousers are a strength at retail. But, at the very moment when an amazingly tailored man s pant is nearing the top of every woman s most-desired list, the house decided to go with… diapers. Quite what could have possessed the designers to commit to this shape, in everything from skirts with an under-loop of fabric to droopy jersey jumpsuits to evening gowns with a floor-dragging crotch, is beyond inexplicable.
Oh, well. At an early-morning show, the bizarre parade did at least raise a rare communal round of international laughter in the auditorium.
