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.
