Sportmax’s kinetic neo-romanticism

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 20, 2019

It’s been said before and was very much true again today that if one really wants to predict what intelligent women will be wearing in six months' time, a very good place to start is with Sportmax.

Especially on inclement days, as the blousons; arty trench coats; high-neck spy-coats all attested.
 
Take the brilliant opening lightweight lambskin leather donkey jacket meets double-breasted coat-dress worn by model Annie Ewers; or a finely draped Grecian goddess cocktail cut short and made in whispery light leather.

Above all, one could only applaud the design team’s ability to create clothes for cool career gals who want to look very put together without seeming to try to hard; notably some flawless knit dresses in combos of varying stiches - asymmetrical Alaia.
 
Staged underneath scores of billowing white sails, in a homage to artist Daniel Wurtzel, known for his moving works of sculpture. The artist famed Air Fountain installation, where huge silk sheets danced about in a airy ballet, echoed in the white sails that undulated above the audience of some 800 at this show.

 
The collection also included elements of a major Milan trend – soft graphics – in synch with the strict cartographic style of so many new techy apartment buildings in Milan.
 
In short, suffice it to say that there was a time when many editors probably attended Sportmax out of consideration that the brand’s main line Max Mara was one of the world’s biggest fashion advertisers. Not anymore. Sportmax is now a bona fide fashion statement and an increasingly influential brand. Especially this season.