Weekend Max Mara Taps Gabriella Pescucci for Capsule Collection
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FROM STAGE TO LIFE: Weekend Max Mara unveiled its latest Signature capsule during Milan Fashion Week and called it “On Set by Gabriella Pescucci.” The Oscar-winning costume designer created a collection inspired by three of her major works: “The Age of Innocence,” “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” and TV series “The Borgias.”
“[Fashion director] Laura Lusuardi invited me to see Max Mara’s archives in Reggio Emilia and asked me if I was willing to design a capsule,” explained Pescucci, standing in front of the original gown worn by Winona Ryder in Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence.” “I never thought I would, but then I dove in,” she said, still baffled at her decision. “You see, it’s a different job, it can be complementary [to costume design], but it’s definitely not the same. I have always followed fashion with curiosity and I thought I would try.”
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The collection is inspired by Pescucci’s love of the sea. One cotton skirt was printed with a pattern of shells and coral branches, for example, also seen on the brand’s “Pasticcino” bag. Thong sandals were embellished with coral-shaped resin elements and shell patterns.
Pescucci reinterpreted the crinolines seen in the Martin Scorsese-directed “The Age of Innocence” into embroidered cutaway shirts and bell sleeves or a skirt with an incredible work of woven laces. The broderie anglaise motif of a pristine white shirt was actually laser-worked.
Tops and shirts with puffed or flared sleeves and ruffles nodded to Lucrezia Borgia. “I really had fun,” said Pescucci, humbly waving away any intention of undertaking a fashion design career. On the contrary, she is already busy at work on a new TV series for Sky Atlantic called “Domina,” centered on Livia Drusilla, the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus, and life in Ancient Rome. “I get bored with films set in contemporary times,” she said with a knowing smile.
The collection will be available online and in all Weekend Max Mara stores from March.
The Weekend Max Mara brand is part of the Max Mara Group and was launched as a casual outdoor weekend collection in 1984. After teaming with American interior designer Anthony Baratta, which followed earlier capsules with American artist Richard Saja inspired by the historical Royal Ascot races, and with Micol Sabbadini, in February, Weekend Max Mara launched “Chaotic Elegance,” inspired by artist Ritsue Mishima, known for her luminous and weightless blown glass sculptures, created in Murano.
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