Max Mara, Marco Polo And Venice: Ian Griffiths Talks Us Through His Cruise 2025 Collection

Max Mara's creative director takes us inside his inspirations for the Cruise 2025 collection

For Cruise 2025, Max Mara whisked its guests to Venice, where creative director Ian Griffiths showed a collection inspired by its most famous citizen: the intrepid adventurer Marco Polo, who left his mark on the city with his legendary travels throughout the world. Held at the Palazzo Ducale, the collection was a masterful blend of old world elegance and modern sensibilites, driven through with rich, sumptuous brocades, tempered with the brand’s signature minimalist silhouettes and palette of chic neutrals.

Here, GRAZIA Singapore catches up with Griffiths to get the low-down on the Cruise 2025 collection, his inspirations past and present, and his take on “quiet luxury”.

Can you walk us through your inspirations for the Max Mara Resort 2025 collection? What was on your moodboard?

It just happens to be 700 years since the death of Marco Polo, the merchant explorer who is credited with establishing the Silk Road. So, the collection has late medieval overtones, although of course it’s completely modern. The opulent art and architecture off Venice, which blends eastern and western influences, inspired rich prints and brocades with extravagant flourishes.

The city of Venice and explorer Marco Polo are key inspirations mentioned in the show notes—what qualities of the city and the explorer drew you to them this season?

At a time when people have been talking about a crisis in the luxury market, I wanted to take a step back to get a better view—a historical perspective. And what better place for that than Venice? This ancient city was built from the proceeds of the luxury business. For over one thousand years the city has been a trading post between east and west, the so-called Silk Road. Venice reminds us that there will always be a demand for high quality products.

Marco Polo was a man, but he has been described as an early feminist. On his travels he wrote admiringly of cultures where women had power and influence, and like many Venetian merchants, who were away from home for years at a time on trade missions, he devolved the running of his business to the women in his family. In fact, women in Venice were more powerful and independent than anywhere else.

Your collections also usually pay tribute to strong female figures from history—who was that for you this season? Why did you have her in mind?

A Max Mara woman, who else?! But this season she’s in the mood to show off a little. There’s a swagger to the collection which comes from looking at the adventurous Venetian merchants whose wealth built this magical city. There’s been a lot of discussion about quiet luxury; this season I wanted to introduce an opulent note, principally in the rich brocades and prints inspired by the multicultural art and architecture of the city where east meets the west. I didn’t reference a specific woman from history this season; I was thinking about Venetia, the personification of the city as a woman, as you see in the paintings of Tintoretto, Veronesi and Titian.

What are the key pieces of the collection that best reflect these inspirations of yours?

The opulent prints and brocades are must haves. Inspired by the ornate art and architecture, their writhing forms combine eastern and western influences.

Coats are synonymous with Max Mara—how did you incorporate your and interpret them in your coat designs this season?

There’s a beautiful, hooded wrap coat which looks a little like something Marco Polo might have worn—it has gathered sleeves and a drawstring with silky cord and giant tassels. There’s a new take on the traditional Venetian tabarro, short snappy zip up boules, and a clutch of sweeping spolverini (outerwear).

You grew up in the ’80s—are there designers, artists, and writers who have inspired you and continue to inspire you?

I owe a lot to the philosophers who contributed to our understanding of what fashion is, like Roland Barthes and the pioneer of deconstruction, Jacques Derrida. I will always love David Bowie. The Eighties were my formative years. I will never forget them.

Quiet luxury is one of those trends that have emerged and seems to be here to stay. Max Mara is one key quiet luxury brands—I wanted to know what your take on this is and why do you think it has collectively gripped us all?

Quiet luxury speaks to lasting values in a world of ephemera. No wonder we all love it! This season, we introduced a new dimension with our opulent fabrics and historical references. These are clothes that will still delight you in five, ten, fifteen years.