VENETIAN HEART: Max Mara has zeroed in on Venice’s landmark Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace, to present its resort 2025 collection, the company said Monday. As previously reported, the show will take place June 11.
A masterpiece of Gothic architecture, the palace stands in the city’s central Piazza San Marco square, adjacent to the iconic Basilica and with a wing overlooking the lagoon. Representing the residence of the Doge of Venice – the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice – the palace was built starting 1340 and modified in the following centuries. This contributed to its signature layering of building elements and ornamentation, from its original foundations to the Renaissance and opulent Mannerist additions. The location is currently a museum, part of the network of the Civic Museums of Venice since 1996.
While the link between the venue and its richly-embellished halls and the collection will only be revealed next month, the brand likes to find landmark venues for its resort shows. Last year Max Mara‘s creative director Ian Griffiths chose to parade the brand’s resort collection also on June 11 at Stockholm’s City Hall, built in 1911 and recognizable as a symbol of the city with its tower and red brick structure, where the Nobel Prizes for Literature and the Sciences are hosted. The show was attended by celebrities including Amy Adams, Lily Collins, Demi Moore, Lili Reinhart and Kieran Shipka.
The year before, Max Mara presented the brand’s resort collection in Lisbon in the garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, while in 2021, it traveled to the island of Ischia, at the striking Mezzatorre Hotel, overlooking the Gulf of Naples and nestled in a former 16th-century watchtower. Starting with the 2015 pre-fall season, Max Mara has staged runway shows in New York, London, Shanghai, Reggio Emilia — where it is headquartered — and Berlin.
This year, the Max Mara resort show will follow the Jacquemus 15th anniversary show in Capri on June 10 and will coincide with the first day of the international menswear trade show Pitti Uomo, which will kick off in Florence and run until June 14, followed by the men’s shows for spring 2025 in Milan to be held June 14 to 18.
