Sportmax (Q1090)
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Italian fashion label
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Sportmax |
Italian fashion label |
Statements
The Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan’s pre-eminent gallery of public art, contains a wide selection of works by Italy’s finest old masters. In its central courtyard, however, is installed something else: a bombastic bronze statue of Napoleon that dates from the French occupation at the turn of the 19th century. This piece of propaganda portrays Bonaparte as a heroically semi-naked god of war: Mars “The Peacemaker.” Antonio Canova wisely applied the most flattering filter he could while sculpting it, so much so that Napoleon’s bare bronze bottom is one of the most-posted images from this treasure house of renaissance inventions, which today played host to the Sportmax spring collection.Once the show started you suspected the wordsculpturalhad been bandied around the studio back in Reggio Emilia. Jersey dresses were hung from curtain cord collars to undulate down the front of the body while leaving the back—although not the full Napoleon—open to the elements. There were some fine 2D tunic dresses, very long, with deep V necklines. Inevitably there were some underwear as outerwear looks. As last season there were a few outfits in which the topside of pants were volumized in order to create a contrasting hyper-slimness in the waistlines above.Weirder moments included the clear plastic totes in which were carried a liter or two of water, and a semi-opaque lavender dress with a section of fringed clear beads that were held within the garment: This look appeared a challenge to walk in. The stronger looks tended to have one notable elaboration, like the penultimate black fringed dress whose straps wended over the shoulders way down to around the hips. This was a generally fine Sportmax collection, but it remains frustrating that a studio with such great resources and expertise is not dedicated to more purposeful practice.
20 September 2024
Sportmax ditched mood boards and references this season, going instead for “a love letter to a real woman,” said a design-team spokesperson. Solutions for urban life laced with a dynamic edge and attention to what’s contemporary have been at the brand’s core since its inception.Resort pivoted more on the straightforward than trends. Silhouettes were essential, verging on minimal; constructions were kept uncomplicated. A palette of bone, black, and lipstick red had a pared-down flavor, and stretchy fabrications gave the clothes a sense of movement and comfort. In a play between the lean and the voluminous, pantsuits either hinted at the ’80s—with broad-shoulder cropped blousons in black mock croc worn over high-waist, round-cut trousers—or featured fitted, elongated blazers and slim pants.A touch of sensuality was perceived in shawl-collar wrap coats worn off the shoulder; a graphic animal print on a sweeping floor-length trench coat added some drama. Decoration was limited to golden hardware made into necklaces, earrings, and belt buckles, giving off some calibrated sparkle.
30 May 2024
Brown chaps over steel-tipped brown boots under tailored black pants and a cummberbunded velvet-collared half-topcoat in black, with a white faux pocket triangle. A blue jersey dress with power shoulders and an inserted high sort-of crinoline emplacement at the hem, above scarlet patent heels and what looked like a binoculars case. Wide-waist, elasticated sports shorts. Skinny ties. A grinning toad. Knuckle-dusters.It was challenging to fathom quite what Sportmax hoped we would parse from this grab bag of a collection that contained some hits, some misses, but most of all plenty of dots that didn’t seem to meaningfully connect. The press release revealed that the graphics that ran across the collection, some referring to Nico’s final album, 1985’sCamera Obscura,were “prints inspired by album covers,” which made these illustrated pieces dressed-up merch by imaginary cover bands. It also mentioned Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, Annie Lennox, and Siouxsie Sioux—all great artists, all arbitrarily bundled.There seemed to be quite a lot of conceptual boob play going on—rib-knit cupping and mohair sulcus framing and look-here corsetry—plus some vaguely medical girdling details inexplicably adorned by that toad. Effectively moody, complicated curatorwear included an off-the-shoulder tailored jumpsuit with uneven tinsel sleeves that linked manelike around the back. An off-the-shoulder ruffled dress in black patent leather looked like a have-cake/eat-cake rebuke to the idea of male-gaze eye candy, while also functioning as male-gaze eye candy. The menswear was apparently related to Buffalo: Eh?Apart from a penchant for kohl, the Sportmax-cited female artists were connected by their songs’ expressions of love, disappointment, anger, elation, and despair: The material spun by experience. The core Sportmax design team is a highly gifted group of women with a profound knowledge of their craft. What seemed off in this collection was the incoherence of the agenda behind it. The press release, mentioning Nico, made reference to mystery, aloofness, and enigma. If this collection was by association also an enigma, it was one you didn’t feel compelled to solve.
23 February 2024
Sportmax’s design studio went for a “more with less” approach for pre-fall, drawing upon references to the Mod culture of the 1960s, the Belle de Jour bourgeois look, and the sleek modernism of the ubiquitous ’90s.Silhouettes were kept clean and fitted, aligned with the current trend of less oversized proportions; sportswear influences were also ditched in favor of a more urban approach. Formal tailoring looked refreshed; suits’ blazers were short and boxy or elongated and hour-glassy, cinched at the waist by thin belts and paired with miniskirts or shorts for a younger appeal. The Belle de Jour reference played out in sleek trompe l’oeil corset slipdresses, or in glittery numbers in crystal mesh for a dash of extravagance.A minimal ‘90s attitude was apparent in lycra tube skirts and bandeau tops, variously layered and juxtaposed to create a sculpted, bodycon look. Syncing up with the research on new materials the brand is known for, leather was made robust by a bonded lining, knitted textures were rubberized, and a glossy, thermo-sensitive fabric changed color with the touch of the hand. It was rendered into a cool boxy blouson with matching miniskirt.
11 January 2024
The Sportmax show asked some purposefully serious questions. However, the answers it mustered were sometimes unintentionally hilarious. We were placed around what appeared to be a rehashed version of Marc Quinn’sGardenfrom 2000, a long, raised vitrine containing lush and beautifully arranged tropical plants and flowers that fairly burst with fertility. Not unlike that Quinn piece, this vitrine—which was surrounded by a clinical, tiled runway—was designed to have you consider the contrast and potential tension between the natural and synthetic.The notes put it thus: “One can wonder: Will nature, just like ancient rituals, traditions, and craftsmanship, also become the ‘memento mori’ of a world of extinct marvels, in which artificially generated replicas will be the only way we can experience life in the future? Is there a future without acknowledgment of the past? Is artificial the new natural? Is science the new art?”So many questions. Answer-wise, the most cogent came via the application on some garments of partner artist Kristof Kintera’s works, titled “Postnaturalia,” that depicted flowers and herbs sprouting from wrecked circuit boards. These spoke to contemporary anxiety about screen time and the relative merits of virtual and visceral experiences. Also convincingly ahead of the curve was the woo-woo Oakley-esque eyewear worn by some models, which seemed to anticipate the soon-to-come paradigm shift in mobile cellular devices.The clothes were less articulate in suggesting ways of addressing the issues so explicitly raised by the Sportmax team. Mannequin-esque molded tops, layered oversized tailoring, what looked like a silk floral jacquard dress with a lumpy neckline, and a dress made of skeins of pearlescent beads were wearable-ish conversation fillers. More ambitious were the pieces with radically raised boxy necklines that were possibly meant to be worn versions of the vitrine, hard shapes containing and constraining natural matter.The oversized sex-toy bags and feathered arm-length gloves were conceivably inspired by that question-heavy starting point. The institutionally binding straitjacket pieces, meanwhile, were passingly reminiscent of the fashion asylum section in the fifth-anniversarycollectionof the one-before-Sabato creative director of Gucci. Which raised another question to which we are still awaiting the answer. This was a Sportmax collection that valiantly but rashly asked too much of itself.
The vitrine, however, was beautiful to behold.
22 September 2023
Images of The Who’s Quadrophenia and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust were pinned to Sportmax’s resort moodboard. Androgyny, eccentricity, slim silhouettes, and “minimalism with a bit of rock, a bit of glam,” as the label’s representative explained, were on the menu this season.Wardrobe staples were engineered through an updated perspective, without too-obvious references. The label’s trademark trench was offered in a new cocoon shape, the proportions of masculine tailored suits were slimmed down, and the cuffs of straight-cut five-pocket jeans almost reached the knees. An ankle-grazing pleated skirt in gray wool worn with matching pants and a loose sleeveless tabard top looked cool, while slender long dresses in lacquered jersey with elasticated drapings had attractive sensuous shapes.Fashion has been moving in a minimalist direction lately, and so has Sportmax. Silhouettes were kept slender, as in a red knit one-shoulder tunic worn over a long-sleeved nylon organza t-shirt printed with a snakeskin pattern. The same motif was repeated on a boxy knee-length see-through dress, signaling an offbeat approach that was also perceptible on a short slip dress in pale pink metallic mesh with a plunging draped neckline. These pieces will surely appeal to the young trend-minded clientele Sportmax is seeking.
22 June 2023
This Sportmax collection was presented in what the house’s release described as a “grunge garage” that was lusher than most real-world apartments; raw, pine-scented floorboards, eclectic pieces of carefully distressed furniture, a curved concrete roof, and lashings of natural light. The collection contained similar contradictions: some of these seemed part of a purposeful exploration of worn tension, while others were probably unintentional.The conscious contradictions were a back and forth between oversized tailoring—subverted by unorthodox twists including fringing, exterior belting, elongated sleeves, gaitered leg hems and trompe l’oeil layered pants—against dresses that were given similarly deliberate twists. Most literally so the dresses in velvet and jersey that were carefully assembled to resemble a convict’s escape route of tried together bedsheets. Two lace dresses, one strapless and the other one-armed, featured hems dipped in some paint-like membrane. Dresses and knits were held together with crocodile clipped garter elastics and a pair of nicely puddled black trousers was worn south of a pair of menswear garters: you could tell they were trying to say something about tension.Faux tail belt charms and mock python print tailoring—the red suit was pretty strong—hinted at the animalistic. A sleeveless mid-length tube dress, loose-ish, in lurex-y silver featured a sleeve-sized section connecting one breast to another. You could see the models’ toes straining for purchase against the shaggy shearling lined footbeds on their heels. The chisel toed cowboy boots, colored to match the yellow, apricot or blush tailoring above, looked a little less bother.Because Sportmax lacks an authorial voice—it is developed by a long-standing in house team, sometimes with guest designers—it needs to articulate itself with extra clarity on the runway in order to transmit the intention behind its design. Today that message was sometimes delivered, but other times got tied up in knots.
24 February 2023
For pre-fall the Sportmax design team went back to the essentials, toning down the trendy approach of recent seasons. There was no stated inspiration or moodboard with muses of artistic cachet, rather just the intention to streamline the offer, giving a contemporary spin to basic wardrobe staples.Called New Classicism, the collection hinted at androgyny and minimalism. Simplicity is in the air this season, and the Sportmax team tapped into the vibe. Suits were straight-cut and boxy, with utility-pocketed masculine pants introducing a fluid, elegant version of the ubiquitous cargos. Bermudas were proposed as an alternative to miniskirts, which came paneled over shorts and worn under hybrid blazers with a bomber-like knitted hem; the classic trenchcoat was revisited in shiny moc-croc black vinyl.Playing on contrasting feminine notes, short lingerie slip dresses in black satin and lace appliqués on skintight ribbed cardis suggested a more seductive note of ironic glamour, also highlighted by feather-trimmed short pencil skirts or bustier dresses in sherbet tones of mint and tangerine.
24 January 2023
“Serendipity” or “Chaos” read the text on some purportedly rave-inspired prints, midway through a Sportmax collection that had a little of both. The micro-font press note quotedAlice Through The Looking Glassand contextualized today’s offering as a riff on the relationship between hard and soft speech sounds and hard and soft shapes. It talked about camp, and combining futuristic fabrications with retro shapes. And it notably asserted: “Sportmax constructs its own experiment in the form of an alchemical collage of elements that discover their own balance while transcending the confines of any logical explanation.”One such element seemed to be the hugely over-length sleeves that dragged on the floor behind their wearers, but the notes suggested these were inspired by old-school red carpet. There were lace-edged patchwork slip dresses, puff skirts, petticoats and fitted tailoring with pinched, forward facing closures.Oversized tailoring and bustled skirting was shown in Cyberdog tones of acid lime and orange. The acid dosage intensified via harlequin onesies and shirting in old-school woo-woo psychedelic patterns—sort of acid evil eyes—and a fitted lavender PVC shirt. One-sleeved dresses and cloaklets had their own relationship with logical explanation. Paillette-plastered two-pieces, a powder pink flower brocade strapless dress, and a fiercely spiked bra-top were other notable elements in a collection that tried to embrace the spirit of early trance parties. You could imagine some of these bright and shiny rave cosplay pieces being effective enough for the screen-servicing cohorts who have flocked to Milan this season.
23 September 2022
Sportmax’s efforts to become a cooler version of itself continued for resort, with the design studio exploring contrasts between Victoriana and psychedelia. Reference-clashing is apparently how creatives at the label now operate, pursuing a sort of out-of-the-comfort-zone challenge. Adding a further layer to the narrative, PJ Harvey was given the status of the season’s muse.Austerity versus sensory overload was the dynamic this lineup revolved around. If activated in a believable cutting-edge way, it could’ve offered a rather radical visual translation. But the label’s status as the solid, industrial Max Mara’s little sister line smoothed the clash, steering the collection towards a milder interpretation. Victorian elements like puffy sleeves, corseted-like waistlines, ruffled collars, and full multi-layered skirts were added to otherwise clean-cut pieces—think a broad-shouldered, cinched-waisted black leather dress with leg-of-mutton extra-long sleeves; or an hourglass-shaped coat/dress in striped denim with strong jutting shoulders, worn with matching trailing pants. A series of high-collared, oversized poplin shirts with miles-long sleeves, as well as a tight-fitted dress in turquoise lycra with a ruffled bavolet also hinted at the Victorian theme.On the lysergic side, bright undulating jacquard motifs were rendered on a slender knitted two-piece tunic, or on a sleeveless midi dress with a fluted skirt. Yet, as is often the case with Sportmax, the finest part of the collection was the tailoring, which didn’t need any historical reference to make an impact. An attractive example was an elegant black straight-cut duchesse coat, sans lapels, which was coolly lined with a detachable raw-hemmed gilet in lab-white canvas. On the same note, the round shoulders of a generously cut beige trench showed the technical ingenuity that is one of the label’s best assets.
20 July 2022
You know you’re in for something delectable when the show notes say the season’s muse is a “she demon.” For Sportmax, now operating as a design studio sans head, the idea of something directionally sexy makes sense. The brand is ready for a new life, and it’s wise in our Hot Girl Moment that its new energy will be that of minimal body con.In a dizzyingly pink room with pink lights and pink carpet, the brand presented a collection hinged on circular draping, cut-outs, and clear string. Many looks were backless or sideless, suspended or held together with a prayer and a tiny plastic band. This severe silhouette, with its padded shoulders and clean lines, evoked something Margelaian—an idea hammered home with the large envelope bags. Helmut Newton was also on the moodboard, his sparse, evocative women feeling in step with these Sportmax vixens.But at some point, there is simply too much sex. The collection’s first 36 looks of darted blazers and crystal covered dresses hammered home the erotic inspiration and its real world implications. Watching it then cycle through neutral tones was, in an Omicron era, too much. Especially when models were grappling to hold up the tops of their dresses during the finale walk. The magic of fashion is its duality: to inspire and to be worn. Sportmax could swing back into wearability for next season without losing its vixenish edge.
25 February 2022
The usually conceptually-minded design team at Sportmax went for metaphors and tales for pre-fall. To obliquely address the gender-circular conversation that is one of today’s fashion subtexts, the seafaring legend of The Sailor and The Mermaid seemed to fit the bill. In Sportmax’s overturned narrative, the one-way seduction of a sailor bewitched by a mermaid’s enchantments was replaced by a new equilibrium, a sort of homeostasis between the yin and the yang.The tension between opposites—nautical uniforms and classic sailors’ staples running counter to sinuous, liquid silver-sequined shapes—gave the collection a middle ground between polarized style extremes. Of-the-moment masculine tailored outerwear, big-shouldered and oversized, alternated with a series of shimmering backless dresses, roomy blazers, and turtlenecks turned into fitted short tunics.The collection had an edgyl’air du tempsfeel. Extra-flared denim bell bottoms were patchworked from different indigo textures; wide-legged slacks pooled around the ankle, covering sturdy wedge clogs ot thick-soled creepers. Pinstriped tailored skirt suits played on volume and asymmetries; black leather was studded with metallic eyelets, as in an oversized trench coat worn over a midriff-baring top and matching miniskirt. The offer signaled a slightly more radical direction for Sportmax, exploring challenging new territories out of its comfort zone.
24 January 2022
Dancing days are here again. So once Missoni had finally finished, Sportmax stepped up to present its customers with some powerfully thought-through options to hit the floor in. The long-established but always anonymous creative minds behind this little Reggio Emilia sister to Max Mara always bend to the cerebral. This season they looked at the interaction between John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Pina Bausch. This immediately raised interesting questions about clothing as a product in the service of music and movement. An extra pirouette was added by spicing Cage and company’s rigorous interpretive restraint with an incongruous fashion sound-clash concept: What would you get if you mixed the baroque with minimalism?The result looked like any democratic dance floor, in that your attention was naturally drawn to the smoothest throwers of shapes. Contenders included a ruched tulle half skirt that snaked finely against hessian, and a layered fluorescent green tube dress with spaghetti straps that shimmied into a knee-high ruffled hem. The powerful pink cycling shorts-and-base layer with little ruffled sweatbands at the biceps was an eye-catcher too.Against these a large section of earnest off-white looks in linen and cotton were often lovely in themselves, but rather faded from the eye—you had to slow down and focus to appreciate the handwork and thought behind the almost institutional corsetry, rib-knit underwear, and strapped tailoring. This was all very interpretive dance, absolutely—but interpretative dance often seems much more fun to perform than to watch.There were a couple of top-notch movers, however. Especially beautiful in profile were two looks: Number 38’s incongruously floral tumbling tunic atop washed-out pink, strap-strewn combats, and Number 27’s irregularly gathered black dress. This was highly capable choreography-in-clothing elevated by a few particularly prima pieces.
24 September 2021
Digging into a stylish granny’s wardrobe is a dream of every young vintage-lover, and it’s the one imagined for resort by Sportmax’s design team. Granted access to a treasure trove of frocks from the ’60s and ’70s, the lucky girl mixes and matches them together with what the brand’s fashion director Grazia Malagoli calls “a modern spirit of reinterpretation.”Inspired by the almost kitschy look of vintage interiors, the collection revolved around ’60s and ’70s short and svelte silhouettes, rendered in floral jacquards, tartan tweeds, and tapestry-macramés, all treated to glossy finishes to give them a techno twist. Leather punctuated the offer, with bright tones of turquoise, mint green, and sunflower brightening up pleated minidresses and sleeveless vests paired with pooling pants, a recurring theme in the collection.Shot in a stylish apartment, the lookbook images convey a cinematic feel, reminiscent of movies like Luis Buñuel’sBelle de Jourand Chantal Akerman’sJeanne Dielman, which served as references. A belted trench coat in mustard green, a mimosa yellow paisley-printed skirt suit, and a sleeveless shift in pale blue laminated nylon with delicate floral motifs would all be appropriate for a young starlet cast in an updated version ofThe Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
17 July 2021
Sportmax sees the future through a retro-futuristic lens: “We’ve looked at strong women who inspire us, from the distant past to the present,” said fashion director Grazia Malagoli. She explored centuries of style icons, from Greek statuary to Annie Lennox, trying to distill a proposition that makes sense not only for today but that also encapsulates progression and newness. “We wanted to say something more interesting and that speaks to the future,” she said.Simplifying while retaining sophistication, with elaborate textural accents adding visual appeal, seemed the way forward for fall. The collection gravitated toward what Malagoli called a “totemic silhouette”—elongated, slender lines. It was as far from any WFH uniform as can be; it looked fast-paced and made for a life spent in cities buzzing with activity and action.Tailoring was the collection’s pivot; long slim coats and suits with elongated blazers were anchored by sharp-cut shoulders. Monochromatic layering added some flourish to modernist shapes. Fringes, raw edges, tie-dye, and openwork surfaces lent depth and a touch of the artisanal to an otherwise clean, androgynous look. A few special pieces brought a touch of drama: An Yves Klein Blue taffeta dress opened up into a billowy parachute shape; a crystal-studded minidress was worn over cool leggings; a felted-wool top was fringed with intricate mohair curls. They were clothes designed with an energetic, creative mindset. “As in the ’20s, we’ll probably experience a renewal,” said Malagoli. “We’re positively optimistic that the future will be on our side.”
27 February 2021
History often repeats itself. This season Grazia Malagoli, Sportmax’s fashion director, is certainly hoping it does. Malagoli believes that a parallelism can be drawn between the Roaring Twenties, an era of effervescence and rebirth after the destruction of World War I, and what may emerge when the pandemic eases its grip on the world. She is positive that a desire for celebration will drive women’s behavior—and their spending habits, of course. “Women’s resilience and joie de vivre will prevail,” she said during a showroom presentation of the label’s pre-fall collection, which is named 1920-2020.The ’20s saw an abundance of fabulous female personalities breaking down social restrictions to express a freedom not experienced by previous generations of women. Between the many muses at her disposal, Malagoli chose as an inspiration Claude Cahun, a French artist of androgynous sophistication. In her time, she embodied a stylish counterpoint to the short-skirted, sexy flappers, who madly danced in jazz clubs in low-waisted fringed and sequined numbers—no corsets in sight.Malagoli worked on alternating slender, almost boyish shapes with more feminine form-fitting silhouettes. She also introduced a jolt of vivid color, inspired by Sonia Delaunay’s chromatic palette, and a touch of animalier prints as a nod to Josephine Baker. It was an appealing way to energize the collection and to infuse warmth and sensuality into the usually more modernist and cool Sportmax vibe. Velvet was used throughout, highlighting a certain tactility, giving a softer edge to a tailored pant suits or heightening the seductive feel of a sinuous dress in shades of lavender and golden yellow.Leather was supple and light: A tunic in a bright shade of green was pierced by metallic rings; the back of a black top was thin-strapped and fringed. An animalier-printed oversized trench made a big statement and a soft faux-fur coat looked luxurious—Zelda Fitzgerald would’ve thrown it nonchalantly over one of her fabulous party frocks.
21 January 2021
Shortly after he founded Sportmax as Max Mara’s younger sister back in 1969, Achille Maramotti observed, “Women’s tastes and demands can be oriented by the same standards in which they must be interpreted. In fashion one can even ‘impose,’ but only the things that, albeit unconsciously, are already wanted.”In other words, to create a fashion collection that fires minds and sends hands racing to wallets, you must shape something that is not simply “new” for the sake of it, but which represents the answer to a question that has not yet been articulated yet which is hanging in the air. Half a century later, any worth-their-salt cool hunter would recognize the truth of this.This Sportmax collection felt tangibly “new” in that an aura of romantically tinged ’90s grunge supplanted the more literally sports-driven and high-gloss fabrications of the past few seasons. Bookended between two haunting sections from Bruno Alexiu’s soundtrack to a documentary about the unfinished 1964 Romy Schneider filmL’Enfer(The Inferno), Michel Gaubert’s soundtrack eddied and flowed, deliberately choppy, in a manner that expertly echoed the collection it accompanied.This played the formal architecture of masculine tailoring in constructed shoulders and dart-waist dresses (the first tan, the second gray) against a note of abandon conveyed via roughly unfinished hems. There were also oversized tailored jackets and coats in apricot and pistachio silk, and tightly wrapped top-to-toe pinstripe cottons. A series of very well-realized draped and ruched leather dresses came in black, synthetic green, and royal blue: Their solidity perhaps contrasted with the opaque fine knits and layered technical nylon dresses. Two constants were the gleaming steel belts and bracelets and the chiseled toes on boots and sandals.The design team played with the polarized colors of the early special effects you can see in what survives ofL’Enferon YouTube. The tie-dyed prints toward the end were also consistent with that proto–lava lamp aesthetic. Going back to Maramotti’s original rubric (and also the question posed by the singer Mina on the soundtrack of yesterday’s Max Mara show), it was not immediately apparent what question this collection answered; however, watching it unfold was diverting enough.
25 September 2020
Sportmax’s fashion director Grazia Malagoli set up an impromptu showroom for resort appointments on a sprawling terrace in Milan’s city center. While maintaining safe-distance guidelines, the breezy en plein air situation lifted post-confinement moods. Determined to bring the same feel-good factor to the collection, Malagoli played on a more sensual and feminine note than usual, revealing Sportmax’s softer side.Jacques Deray’s 1969 movieLa Piscinehas inspired countless designers (and remakes), not only because of the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of actors Romy Schneider and Alain Delon, but also for its pervasive sensuality and dark undertones. As an inspiration, it seemed a world apart from the elegant functionality Sportmax is known for. “We just referenced a certain seductive mood the movie was about,” explained Malagoli.Graphic constructions were softened into more feminine form-fitting shapes featuring plays of folding, draping, and asymmetrical cuts. Tailoring was still precise, but was given a fresh twist with plisséd techniques, as in a double-breasted trench coat in beige cotton gabardine whose front transitioned seamlessly into what Malagoli called a “vanishing pleats” effect.Heightening the sensual aesthetic, bustiers, one-shoulder column dresses, and backless knitted tops revealed flashes of bare skin. On a similar note, tight pencil skirts in high-gloss technical fabrics were worn with square-cut military shirts, while an off-the-shoulder printed dress with a flared asymmetrical skirt nodded at the 1950s. Also vintage in flavor was a floral motif, reworked into an abstract pattern and printed on a sexy spongy-textured minidress.With this collection Malagoli was tapping into women’s post-quarantine desire to look and feel more feminine and seductive—bastasloppy tracksuits and loungewear. She chose a quote from Simone de Beauvoir and plastered it on the collection’s moodboard: “If God created something more beautiful than women, he must’ve kept it to himself.”
20 July 2020
Sportmax is fresh off of a 50th anniversary year and corresponding book in which its brand of practical, essential Milanese ready-to-wear was very much celebrated. What to do after all that looking back and reflecting? Stepping boldly into the future would be the obvious recourse, and fashion director Grazia Malagoli led the label into new territory this season with sure footing. The clothes, for the most part, were created with three-dimensionality in mind—not the typical front-versus-back dichotomy of most fashion show garb that leaves the sides of models woefully forgotten. As such, the tucked and draped half-capes and darted and ruched dresses might not photograph as beautifully as simple, 2-D-minded designs, but watching a star cast of models walk in these clothes was surprisingly exciting.For women less concerned with the complex design of their garments, Sportmax offered plenty of effortless suiting and unfussy eveningwear. The best in class of each category: a blue faux leather suit with pleated detailing on Maike Inga and a pinned-up knit over a glittering gown on Sara Grace Wallerstedt. In between were lots of monochromatic layering pieces, mini suits, and sumptuous coats that will look great both IRL and on URLs.
21 February 2020
Sportmax turned 50 in 2019, celebrating with a book that retraces its history through archival sketches and magazine and advertising campaign images shot by famous photographers. The brainchild of Max Mara group’s forward-thinking founder Achille Maramotti, the label’s legacy as a clever, practical response to the new challenges faced by working women in a modern world is still alive today. Sportmax embraced technological innovations in fashion production from the start, aligning its efficient language with the cultural evolution of style.For pre-fall, fashion director Grazia Malagoli stayed true to the streamlined approach she has established at the label. Unfussy and minimal, the collection featured daywear and outerwear pieces in lean shapes and balanced volumes. Trench coats were proposed in bonded leather with asymmetrical details, and tailoring was softened while still retaining a uniform precision. The silhouette was slender in elongated dresses with layers of silk enhancing a sense of movement, while romantic blouses with poet sleeves were worn with high-waist workwear denim trousers, emphasizing the collection’s play between feminine fluidity and a sharper, smart attitude.
16 December 2019
Sportmax’s set was decorated with crisp white sails. When the show started, pulley mechanisms activated, and they billowed as if moved by a stiff wind. The seaside was the theme, though it wasn’t a first-degree interpretation; there was nothing so obvious as marinière stripes, for instance. Instead Grazia Malagoli and her team started with the concept of sails: their triangular shapes and the ropes used to manipulate them. The approach made for some very appealing summer dresses—wrapped, asymmetrical, and breezy. A few were accented with leather collars, cuffs, or harnesses—Malagoli described them as leather bijoux. These worked best when they played a minor role. A shoulder-covering harness counteracted the inherent ease of the swingy trapeze dress it accessorized.Absent marinière stripes, Malagoli and company turned to other codes of the sea. A leather peacoat with poncho-like proportions opened the show, and later there was a sun-bleached blue fisherman’s sweater and a loose interpretation of navy dress whites minus the insignia. Applying the seasonal theme to Sportmax’s sartorial DNA, shorts replaced pants as an accompaniment to jackets, and in some cases, jackets were subtly deconstructed to enhance their sense of movement. The tailoring could have been more distinctive. The catch of the day was a long, billowing white dress gathered at the waist with the triangular shape of a sail.
20 September 2019
Approaching its 50th anniversary, the Sportmax team looked back at its heritage, updating its archival templates according to a streamlined concept of utilitarian elegance, tinged with a sportif element and a modern flair for tailoring. Resort revolved around the celebration of its most relevant item: the trench, which was given a new lease on life, translated into dusters, skirts, and even dresses.“We called this collection Tailoring Evolution,” explained fashion director Grazia Malagoli, pointing out a dress that was actually a hybrid between a classic-cut camel-color trench coat and a very feminine sun-pleated skirt; made in soft techno-cotton stretch, it highlighted the comfortable, dynamic feel of in the collection. An imaginative approach was also conveyed in a trench coat subtly decorated with inserts of shiny patches, or in a trench-inspired pencil skirt worn with a neoprene sweatshirt.Experimenting with tailoring was a strong point in Malagoli’s agenda: “We tried to give the suit a novel shape,” she said. See: the new proportions of abbreviated ‘80s-inspired boxy jackets cut with ergonomic details and paired with high-waisted fluid pants, or shapely masculine blazers with contrasting corset-like inserts, worn with trapeze-cut short dresses. The precise tailoring and architectural yet fluid silhouettes were the collection’s most compelling and defining traits.Embedded in the label’s core there’s obviously a sporty vibe, which was celebrated at the Fall show with the launch of new Sportmax sneakers. Here they were proposed in many updated versions; together with a leather cap and a new line of sunglasses, they enhanced the collection’s dynamic attitude.
5 June 2019
At first, it seemed strange that Sportmax chose as its soundtrack the very same “bit of the old Ludwig van”—Beethoven’s 9th Symphony—that featured so prominently not only inA Clockwork Orangebut also last month’s (outrageously good) Undercover menswear collection.Yet, once the models completed their rangy traipses up and down the elevated runway of blush sand, it sort of made sense: This was a gang of 21st-century female droogs who had wrought ultraviolence upon the hallowed citadel of menswear suiting for their own fashion gratification. A gray jacket had its arms slashed from its body, and a blue jacket front—itself most probably the victim of some other tussle—thrust upon it. Two more jackets had been mercilessly razored at the waist to provide each side of a jacket-skirt beneath a nylon shirt masquerading as a white one. When there was a fully functioning two-piece, albeit one hybridized from a wool in two shades of gray, it seemed an act of relative mercy (that looked good).Impressive here were the round-shouldered outerwear pieces engineered in a wool-cashmere mix in navy or gray that lent a tough, pumped-up shot of steroids to the silhouette. The most prominent examples were a blue bomber with a shearling-paneled front worn above a three-split matching skirt and a full-length gray jacket. It wasn’t solely suiting that was adapted from menswear and then attacked from a fresh direction: In black or caramel leather, there was a great deal of luxury harnessing and tactical wear, sometimes worn separately, or not, as with two raincoats into which were integrated jerkin-like leather inserts—which will surely get rain-stained if ever worn in a storm. Combined with the fabric baseball caps and high leather boots, all the holstering and harnessing sometimes made these seem like directional paramilitary attire. The new Marcolin-made Sportmax eyewear looked convincingly future-facing, and the sock sneakers left attractively ergonomic patterns in the shifting sands below.
22 February 2019
Le Corbusier’s famous Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, designed with Pierre Jeanneret as an innovative template for future housing projects and exhibited in 1925 at Paris’s Exposition Universelle, was reproduced on the same scale in Bologna, Italy, in 1977. Even if it’s a replica, it’s a gem of modernist architecture; recently restored, it’s now open to the public. Its purist aesthetic, with its geometric spaces and light play, resonates with Sportmax’s own repertoire; the rebuilt pavilion was chosen as a backdrop for the lookbook’s images.Grazia Malagoli, the label’s fashion director, emphasized the Pre-Fall collection’s balanced play on contrasting elements: Masculine and feminine, innovation and classicism, practicality and experimentation. This dialogue was particularly apparent in the outerwear offer, always a strong category for Sportmax, which was proposed in a variety of hybrids, where the concepts of transformation and versatility were central. A trenchcoat, cut with architectural precision in leather, was made flexible via a detachable front bib and zippered sleeves; it can morph into a long waistcoat to be worn over wide-leg fluid pants or feminine, figure-skimming dresses.Tailoring is at the core of the label’s expertise; here its streamlined structure was tinged with a sporty allure and experimental play with fabrications and textures. A masculine city coat was cut in thick striped alpaca, which gave its precise shape a feel of comfort and ease; a blazer in navy wool presented a classic masculine-inspired front, while the back exposed the garment’s inner construction, its seams and lining treated almost as decorative elements. As for the technical flair given to high-end materials, cashmere was woven with a thread of reflective yarn, while a roomy sweatshirt in neoprene felt soft and malleable to the touch, as if it were made of precious fibers.
17 December 2018
The opening section of this show—mixing stylized surfwear with womenswear adapted from men’s tailoring—reminded me powerfully of that awesome scene inPoint Breakin which Johnny Utah takes his surfboard into the office and announces, “I caught my first tube this morning, sir.” Just like Utah’s character progression, this was a collection that started out square, processed, and besuited, but became more and more organic and blissed-out by the kinetic allure of surf and surf culture.A racerback dress in paillettes that etched graphic, dynamic patches of color was worn barefoot with a shell anklet. A dress in menswear check with a wave of fabric at the waist had apparently been partially resprayed from gray to turquoise and lemon. A skirt with suit-jacket buttons in superfine gray wool was worn casually slung off one hip below a bikini top and above a pair of Sportmax logo slides. A corset-stitched dress in what looked like a technical nylon was ruched and gathered with drawstrings which hung and swung from the garment as the model walked in them. Leather board shorts—practical only for surfing the Internet—were worn with wet suit–style T-shirts. The deeper the collection got into its surf-esque references, the more blissed-out the styling became: The girls carried their shoes or slung them from backpacks. This was a collection that looked to the sport in Sportmax and rode its wave-borne source material with playful poise.
21 September 2018
“Past, present and future” is the mantra being chanted by many designers these days, when it’s paramount for labels to find a cohesive narrative between their legacy, the need to adapt to current fashion codes to maintain relevance and commercial viability, and the necessity for a vision which could bring them into the future. Sportmax is obviously no exception; founded in the ‘70s to address a growing need for a modern urban wardrobe, today it can borrow from its own past values and vast archive to confront the hyper-crowded marketplace. Sportswear and utility-inspired functionality are a natural vocabulary for this label.So it seemed fitting that for Resort, fashion director Grazia Malagoli paid homage to the label’s heritage. Without a hint of nostalgia but with a practical approach, she reedited a Jean-Charles de Castelbajac ‘70s trenchcoat, which was a hit back in the days when he collaborated with Sportmax as in-house designer. She tweaked its proportions, replaced its original stiff fabrication with soft bottle-green leather, and morphed it into a feminine hybrid coatdress, zippered and belted. The approach highlighted the collection’s vibe, which was all about multi-functionality and a dynamic take on versatile shapes, layering, and re-engineered volumes.Malagoli experimented with ingenious cuts and silhouettes, working around the concept of hybridization and protection, balancing technical detailing, high-end fabrications, and tailoring. Outerwear served her as a playground for inventive solutions. Case in point was a short bomber-waistcoat jacket in suede and knitted cotton, whose volume was literally turned upside down, its hem worn as a collar and vice versa—she called it “upturned construction.” It was juxtaposed onto fluid feminine dresses with asymmetrical hems, twisted into an elliptical figure-hugging movement, or worn with oversize masculine shirts and high-waisted ‘80s-inspired utility pants.The same experimental vibe was in evidence in a classic trenchcoat mixing cotton and leather, its bold color-block construction giving it a fresh flair. It was also emphasized in a black PVC short bomber jacket with contrast stitching; juxtaposed onto a masculine cashmere city coat, it made for an assertive yet versatile proposition.
30 June 2018
Rush, rush, rush. We dashed to Sportmax in a post-Marras Milan traffic blood clot, all concerned we’d miss it (and we almost did). Once inside, the floor was strafed with lines in neon light meant to echo the symmetry of ski tracks in the snow—within moments, these faded as the spotlights came up. The last gasp of guests was still running into the room.If the audience was in a hurry, then the models were operating at hyper-speed. They strode around the Sportmax space like women who’d just heard a phone alert from within their fanny packs that told them they were running late for a make-or-break job interview. You felt the breeze as they passed.The clothes were carefully disjunctive and artfully layered. There were many tight down vests or high-backed jackets worn like life preservers over double-faced outerwear lined in fluoro and fastened with bonded zippers, or off-kilter sliced waistcoat dresses in angled sheets of incongruously analog Fair Isle. A long-armed sweater fronted with frothed yellow mohair was backed in plain blue rib above a menswear checked skirt that furled at the waist as if not quite entirely put on. Dresses featured tying details, and attractive incorporations of sportswear gleaned technical decoration onto simple, freely moving silhouettes. Perhaps a little reminiscent of Lucas Ossendrijver’s excellent recent work for Lanvin menswear, this Sportmax collection was an apparently confusing onrush that hid its own logic in plain sight. In a modern world where traditional categories—evening, sport, day, cocktail, whatever—no longer really apply, everything is interchangeable. Wear it how you want, when you want, where you want. Just get there on time.
23 February 2018
In keeping with its sportswear roots, Sportmax’s Pre-Fall collection had a dynamic, fast-paced vibe. Grazia Malagoli, the label’s fashion director, imbued it with an urban spirit, balancing luxury with practical, technical details.Outerwear made up the lion’s share of the collection. A navy cashmere cape thrown nonchalantly over a lightweight, high-necked parka in pale blue glazed nylon and skinny leggings had the carefree attitude that was the hallmark of the offering. Overcoats and vests of generous proportions could be put on with the ease of backpacks or worn cross-body thanks to adjustable straps, zippers, and hidden belts. The sense of movement and comfort didn’t detract from a feminine allure, traceable in a series of ribbed knit dresses whose skirts opened up in playful plissé panels or were cut asymmetrically with handkerchief hems. In energetic shades of red and pink, or dark green, they looked cool. This was a confident lineup, recognizably Sportmax, while expressing a modern vitality.
12 December 2017
The fact that Sportmax was founded nearly 50 years ago to surf a wave of youthful engagement with athleticism and sportswear that emanated from the U.S. proves that what comes around, goes around. Today, sportswear is again a defining driver of the global vernacular of clothing, and Sportmax continues to mine it for raw materials ripe for an upgrade. Among the sportiest feats of this collection were long silky dresses and skirts—sometimes plain, sometimes floral—whose shape and necklines were defined and corralled by arcs of striped elasticated rib (sometimes branded). The same stripes featured in fine rib-knit body-con tops, leggings, and skirts, with open panels at the back and contra-color outline contours.Against this home-turf, sporting-sourced aesthetic competed with pieces more rooted in workwear (but similarly embellished to be worn for leisure). Trenches, shirts, wide-belted pants, jumpsuits, and handkerchief-hemmed dresses in teal, navy, grass green, or sand came etched with angular topstitching that highlighted decorative details including double-layered pocket flaps and angular oversize belt fastenings. Leather shorts and bombers with striped, ribbed hems in pale blue or burgundy were neither especially sporty nor worky—just convincingly jaunty. Sportmax might be approaching its sixth decade, but its founding raison d’etre remains relevant, and the creative minds behind it are limber enough to bend with the tastes of today.
22 September 2017
Sportmax was founded in 1969 as a more fashionable spin-off within the Max Mara Group. At the time, it picked up on the casualwear vibe that was starting to get traction, a younger, more affordable, and democratic version of the bourgeois and upscale prêt-à-porter. A sporty attitude was at the label’s core; Max Mara’s accurate industrial execution gave it an urban-yet-refined spin. Over the years, Sportmax has played with fashion, adapting its codes to au courant trends, losing a bit of its soul along the way. Resort seemed to mark a step forward by making a step back into the archives, precisely to ’90s minimalism, a style that suited Sportmax’s utilitarian streak just fine.“A new approach to simplicity,” explained fashion director Grazia Malagoli, who knows the label’s heritage inside out, having been at the company for a long time; “we wanted to bring back a dynamic, sportif feel, which makes our sartorial silhouettes modern and compelling.” Vests and jackets had rounded, cocoon-like volumes, well calibrated yet powerful; funnel collars had a hint of the industrial; construction evidenced a discreet Japanese vibe, typical of the pivotal ’90s look, with geometric touches, a play on folding techniques, and origami decorations being focal points. The classic blazer came in elongated silhouettes, with technical detailings in ribbed knitwear; a structured leather coat in dramatic fire red was one of the highlights of the collection. Graphic touches like 3-D pockets were both decorative and practical; metallic zippers sneaking around bombers and coats allowed for manipulating shapes and volumes, a smart nod to the much-hyped need for individual customization and personal styling so in vogue today.
18 June 2017
Every city I’ve passed through recently is peppered with Sportmax posters. The label has also taken out movie-loop ads at bus stops and other high-visibility street locations. This huge investment suggests the Max mothership sees that its sporty daughter brand is ripe for growth. This gentle exploration of the intersection of entry-level luxury and sportswear provided convincing enough evidence that the hunch has legs.The marble floor of the Museo della Permanente was adorned with laminates covered in arrows and lane lines: The Sportmax runway was an airport runway. After a see-now-buy-now orange brand-logo sweatshirt amuse-bouche, the conceit was played out in monochrome knits and scarves, an oversize white quilted sweatshirt dress emblazoned with the wordRun, and white or orange trucker jacket skirtsuits ticker-taped withReady Steady Run. Later, some silk parachute dresses in black with stretch collars and wide-waist panels also boastedRunin cut-out and tonal relief, and through the two airplane window–shaped holes that perforated each shoulder and wrist of a double-face blue-black woolen top you could see it written yet again.What were we supposed torunfor? President? Our lives? The airport? No answer: This was a Nike-like message of nonspecific dynamism. Apart from the text-based clothing were a couple of vaguely aeronautically touched pieces, among them a black flight suit with zippers running from throat to both ankles and a parka-dress hybrid. Four good-looking later looks—a white top and pants; another jumpsuit (black); and two black and white dresses, one long and one less so—were all gathered at the navel by a climbing carabiner.While the words expressed little precise meaning, this was a collection that runneth over with strong, muted-yet-modern pieces. Examples included the quilt-sleeved knit sweaters, a knit-sleeved wool-mix topcoat and peacoat, the flight suit, and an elongated white jumbo corduroy-lined jacket. Maybe they meantrunstraight to your nearest Sportmax store.
24 February 2017
If you had to compare the recent collections to an art movement, Spring ’17 might have been rococo—lots of pink, ruffles, and embellishments—and the high collars and velvet jackets of seasons past might have been a bit Baroque. For Sportmax’s Pre-Fall collection, the designers mined a more recent renaissance: Dada and Surrealism. Considering the state of the world, perhaps others will follow suit in the coming months; there’s inspiration to spare in the dreamy, antiestablishment ideas and unapologetic approach to color and form.Jean Arp, one of the founding members of Dada, was the starting point for this lineup. Those familiar with his amorphous paintings and collages will see his influence right away in the curving hemlines, color-blocked knits, and “gumball” buttons. The nebulous pendants and brooches were Arpian, too, in that they could be worn with any look, mirroring the artist’s sculptures with movable pieces you could pick up and rearrange.As for the bright, naive hues, Arp’s vibrant works feel extra relevant after a couple seasons of bold, refreshing color on the runways. The shaggy Pepto-pink coat in Look 1 will likely be the favorite among Sportmax’s loyal clientele—especially those who want to stand out in a sea of black and gray next fall.
23 February 2017
It could be a fluke. Or might there be a fish-motif micro-trend swimming to the surface in Milan?Evidence:Giorgio Armanistarted today’s proceedings with a “charmani-ngly” mermaid-inflected collection.Donatella Versaceclosed it by splashing her glamorized sportswear with coiled koi carp earrings. And in between,Sportmaxpresented a collection in which fishtail parkas were but the tip of a piscine iceberg.As the unmistakeable bass of Janet Jackson’s "When I Think You" rolled over us, a collection that featured piranhas on its invitation offered a recurring fish-silhouette on wave prints and more fish earrings. The less entertaining trend this lineup evinced was that of using a sportswear drawstring as an agent for defining drape and ruche. Cosmetic drawstring-ing is big here, having already starred at Eudon Choi and Joseph in London, and would later atVersace, too.Normally it’s rude to reference other designers in a collection review. But Sportmax is assembled anonymously by a team and often overtly reflects broader aesthetic fronts that define the winds of fashion. Here,Stella McCartney’sbold knit dresses andCéline’sfaux-casual but exactingly precise loose cotton separates seemed powerful generators of the Sportmax currency. And perhaps it was all that Janet—the soundtrack interplayed the opener with “Nasty”—but there seemed to be an undercurrent of Lacroix/Montana in the use of drawstring to create puff skirts, some candy-shop color clashing, and lavishly pronounced asymmetry of some later pieces.Neither offensive nor intensively exciting, this collection felt slightly directionless—an exercise in treading water. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
23 September 2016
Resort hasn’t delivered many hard-and-fast trends this season, but designers have been embracing a simpler, more pared-back look. It isn’t quite “minimal,” but it’s refreshingly streamlined. That’s good news forSportmax, a label that consistently churns out clean, sculptural separates. The designers didn’t veer too far from the signatures that have done well the past few seasons—see the stripe-y ribbed knits, buckle details, and shirtdresses—but there was a new softness in the rounded sleeves and deconstructed volumes. A striped cotton dress that zipped all the way up had slightly poufed sleeves and an easy fit.As for the sienna color palette and spotty prints, Africa was a loose starting point. That theme has been tricky for designers in the past, but here it was mostly subtle; a camel and black “thumb” print could be read as leopard, and natural fabrics like linen and hemp lent a touch of rawness. More memorable were the coats, which nixed any overt references; a rust-color suede trench and a top-stitched cream coat were particularly good, but good outerwear is par for the course chez Sportmax.
29 June 2016
A more richly provisioned fashion brain than this pretty poorly equipped one mentioned Koos van den Akker after this morning’sSportmaxshow. A quick Google (that blessed refuge of the ignorant) search confirmed her hunch. The collaging of bordeaux, ochre, and olive rectangular panels at the arm of a layer-wrapped coat and blouse, rhomboid panels on the bodies of felted wool coats, the closing section of camo-contour stitching and the coated woven pieces here—along with its Moroccan-flavored tilt at analog maximalism—all had something in common with the précis of van den Akker’s denseness that Google delivered. But then, we’ve seen touches of this atCéline, too.Lancer lapels undone at the top to loop then droop over themselves, skirt hems slashed at the side to reveal an underlayer of plissé, and vertical zippers used to cinch waistlines were just a few of the style tics in this busy collection. That busy-ness—accentuated by long-length wide-weave netting tabards that felt carried-through from last season or the hexagonal heels of the shoe boots—seemed sometimes at odds with the volumized minimalism of the silhouettes. It was hard to speculate who this full-look woman was. However once dissected and considered in isolation, there was some highly appealing outerwear here, including the intarsia mink capelets and coats, the coats of rectangular tile-design leather patchwork, and one high-collared black coat with a wonderful swoosh of white piping and stitching at neck and shoulder.Mr. van den Akker, who died last year weeks after falling at his sewing machine, provides this review’s conclusion as well as its intro. Unfortunately in retrospect, he was most widely known for knitting Bill Cosby’s famously full-on sweaters. In 2012, van den Akkertold Vicethat he was never entirely enamored of Cosby’s commissions. Those sweaters, he said, trod “a very thin line between absolutely awful and something of genius.” This Sportmax collection, notable for some as-you-would-expect stand-out outerwear, never threatened to trouble either side of that line.
26 February 2016
The organic and the architectural made for a happy marriage inSportmax’s Pre-Fall offering. Riffing on Italian Futurism and the great outdoors, here was a lineup full of unfussy polish and buy-now-wear-now appeal. It paired a certain mod sensibility with the austere long layers of the current runways. Case in point: a swingy knit dress with wide cuffs. Outerwear, consistently a standout for Sportmax), was particularly nice here, like a softly sculptural cornflower blue coat with oversize white buttons. Circles, common as they are in both the natural and the man-made, were a recurring motif, from cutouts to closures to giant, disc-like brooches that proved a nifty styling trick for the simplest of knits. A graphic floral print could stand to have been left on the cutting room floor, but on the whole, splurges with pattern were worthwhile; the sleeveless intarsia number in a zigzagging, abstracted folkloric design was a standout.
13 January 2016
Clinically minimal with a twist of ’60s redux (deluxe), this maritime-seasoned Sportmax collection should cruise serenely from runway to store rack to wardrobe. A toughened-up pinafore shirt–hemmed dress in heavy white cotton featured the round black pockets that were the ongoing contradiction to pure restraint here. They also came on wide sailor pants, a lightweight parka, and a high-waisted jacket used as a topsail over a white silk blouse.There was so much finely draped fabric a-swoosh at the base of another pinafore that sailed forth full-length and zingily orange, that it was hard to make out if it qualified strictly as a dress (possible) or jumpsuit (probably). Assuredly the latter was a deep-V-neck, kicky-legged muster of irregular monochrome stripes against navy and more orange. A pair of tangerine-size eyelets just above the navel on a white shirtdress and a blue front-zip culottes-suit allowed for some hearty, here-to-there belt knotting.The chain print that clanked to the foreground neatly mirrored the chrome buckles on collars and accompanying bucket bags. Cast next was a net print on silk jumpsuits, sweaters, and skirts, before the introduction of grids of round lace as a curtain-closing motif. The lack of a Breton stripe showed admirable restraint in what was a Cardin-tinged assembly of sea-flecked 21st-century staples: placid and pleasing.
25 September 2015
What says "Resort" like a touch of the seafaring? This season Sportmax's précis was a nautical one, complete with rope, grommets, and a palette of reds and blues that lent the brand's clean lines a kind of utilitarian whimsy. Shapes skewed toward the oversized: There were loose culottes, and boxy jackets and tunics were worn cinched, haphazard at the waist. Those aforementioned ropes came to life as an undulating graphic print, but even more coolly as a chunky 3-D knit. Pieces like a suede A-line dress were polished and sweet, but details like big patch pockets prevented them from teetering on the precious. All around there was that impeccably anonymous kind of luxury so many designers are striving for these days, though in places, it was perhaps a touch too anonymous. Sure, on a Tommy Ton mainstay like lookbook girl Veronika Heilbrunner, even the simplest of pieces come to life in a way that demands to be captured on film; but for the under 6-footers among us, some of Sportmax's simpler propositions will take a little stylistic massaging to coax into life. Still, there were plenty of covetable developments here (pairs of front-seamed denim culottes, and the great knits and outerwear all spring to mind), and on fabrication alone, for the price Sportmax continues to be in a league all its own.
12 June 2015
A crisp gust of chilly winter wind swept the Sportmax catwalk, according to the press notes. Not that the models were particularly covered up—their legs were often bare, which made for a contrast with the massive rawhide wedges they wore throughout. Windswept meant instead that the sculptural coats and skirts, humungous jumpers, and pragmatic suits were coarse, grainy, and decidedly protective, all firm volumes and waists nipped with a knotted belt.The preoccupation with the organic has been going on for quite a while in fashion, so this could hardly be big news. Sportmax, admittedly, has been at the forefront of the trend from the beginning. This collection reaffirmed an interest in raw and textured surfaces, with a stress on knitwear. It was all about a charming coziness and a certain ease: streamlined and well edited.The label seems to have finally found its niche in the contemporary fashion landscape: It sits alongside the purists, focusing on shape and texture in place of frilly, useless decoration. The designers are Céline alumni, at times too evidently so. Yet they also own a peculiar spirit—young, dynamic, unfussy. This collection was not a major departure for Sportmax, but it was certainly a high point.
27 February 2015
"I must see new things and investigate them. I want to taste dark water and see cracking trees and wild winds." The epigraph of Sportmax's Pre-Fall show notes, a quote from painter Egon Schiele, came as something of a surprise, as did the idea that the design team had drawn on Schiele's dark, sexual, and fervently expressive body of work. Here was a collection of slick materials and immaculate fabrications with not so much as a jutting hip bone in sight. What these clothes lacked in Schiele's urgency or eroticism they made up for in cool, faintly off-kilter polish: a pieced-together coat in glossy haircalf; an ensemble of macro-plaid jacket, trousers,andscarf; color-blocked knits with asymmetrical peplums. Silhouettes skewed toward the slightly eccentric and oversized but were tempered by the standout tailoring that characterizes the Max Mara main line. A striped blazer and wide-legged trousers were particularly beautiful, as was a glossy, cocoon mink. Even if the Schiele name-check felt mostly nominal, there were plenty of covetable—and commercially viable—pieces that should only increase the momentum Sportmax has had in recent seasons.
15 December 2014
Organicis one of the season's buzzwords in Milan. Raw hems, tactile textures, luxurious pauperism, and natural hues have been all the rage. The Sportmax collection was a case in point. The show notes promised clothes swaying to the relaxed beat of summer. Cropped jackets, cozy knits, and long dresses looked charmingly precarious, almost unfinished. They came knotted on the front, molded on one side, and frayed all around. Elsewhere, seams were exposed. There was an impromptu quality running throughout the show, as though everything had been put together spontaneously minutes before hitting the runway. It was a cerebral take on summer ease. Patch pockets added casual slouch. Jute, canvas, and jersey raffia provided the all-important textures, which got amplified in the macro-damierpieces made of woven micro-strips of leather. Outsize ginghams were the only prints; used on the bias or blotched to mimic Franz Kline's gestural paintings, they made a bold, if slightly heavy, visual statement.Over the past few seasons, Sportmax has gained focus, finding its own niche in the bigger Max Mara universe. This collection, coherent and well-edited, looked like further progress. Of course, frayed hems and casual draping are hardly something new. The design team seemed to have been looking at the Japanese stalwarts and the work of Jil Sander in the '90s. At Céline, too, maybe a bit too closely. Yet this wasn't a case of blatant appropriation; rather, of reinterpretation. Sportmax turns bold, fashion-forward inspirations into wearable, desirable clothes.
19 September 2014
It was the quintessential boy-meets-girl story at Sportmax's Resort presentation this morning. Maintaining a linear purity while simultaneously introducing elements of flou, the design studio added plissé details to sensible A-line dresses cut from bonded jersey, and also featured folds on the back of a slouchy suit. The emphases on soft pleating and nipped-in silhouettes felt like relatively unexplored territory for the Italian brand known for its smart tailoring and luxurious outerwear; they were welcome developments.The best looks were the ones that achieved dynamic movement. A trapeze-shaped coatdress featuring allover pleats, for example, appeared to float with each step the model took, while a simple wrap top paired with its matching maxi skirt glided elegantly across the floor. The color palette was predominantly focused on inky blacks and blues, but the Sportmax team didn't shy away from bold hues and prints entirely. Unconstructed topcoats rendered in vibrant shades of mint green and persimmon double-faced wool were worn over relaxed trousers and refined T-shirts; a fuchsia-and-red combination seemed particularly fresh coming off of Fall's unexpected brights trend. Gary Hume's artwork inspired the graphic scribble and brushstroke patterns found on jacquard coats, breezy silk tunics, and slim pants. Compared with the messy abstractions of Jackson Pollock's paintings seen on Sportmax's most recent runway, these artsier pieces were more successful in their relative restraint.
27 May 2014
Sportmax was in the mood today for extravagance as an antidote to Italy's never-ending austerity binge. It was imaginative to opt for Jackson Pollock's extravagantly messy paintings as inspiration for the splatter jacquards that closed the show. The same spirit of densely colored abstraction found expression in a big, messily intarsia-ed sweater dress, and, to a more restrained degree, in big multicolored mohair coats. Except those pieces weren't really about restraint. They had all the energy of letting go. At the same time, they made for a diverting reevaluation of the label's workmanship, which is more often appreciated in smartly modern Italian tailoring.There was certainly enough of the sober tone as well, although an infestation of vivid red mohair on a gray sweater dress was just one example of how the sober can be persuaded to show off. The subtly extravagant gesture was a winner.Less so was the onslaught of animal and reptile that opened the show. Used as an accent—the python armlets on a gray flannel blazer, for instance—the philosophy of "less is more" is usually a safe bet, especially for a label that doesn't equate with decadence. Sportmax has achieved spectacular effects with the most deluxe materials in the past, but here the excess fostered a sense of heaviness and stiffness. And ironically, the luxury that these pieces endeavored to represent was probably one of the things that Pollock was railing against in his revolutionary work.
20 February 2014
After switching things up with a softer Spring show full of wispy slipdresses and playful polka dots, Sportmax returned to familiar territory for Pre-Fall. Inspired by Japanese photographer Maiko Haruki's chiaroscuro studies of light and shadow, the new lineup featured graphic Prince of Wales checks, crisp tailoring, and—of course—plenty of luxe outerwear. The aforementioned plaid came on a variety of pieces including a rounded coat; an intarsia knit pullover; a slim pencil skirt; and a loose, printed silk dress. That frock was cinched at the waist with a wide leather band, which was incorporated throughout the collection. The belts created a flattering hourglass shape on several of the straight sheaths and menswear-ish toppers. And as for the label's signature coats, there was at least one terrific option for every day of the week—all of them cut from sumptuous double-faced wool or cashmere. The clear standout, though, was an asymmetric style that combined cobalt blue and black with a contrasting white underlay. Now that's sharp.
7 January 2014
Do not underestimate the power of the polka dot. The Sportmax design team changed tack this season, swapping the hard edges and haberdashery elements of the Fall collection in favor of something much softer and feminine. It was a positive development. As a brand known for its outerwear (note the great-looking double-face suede coat in tan and black that opened the show), tailoring is often the focus here, or at least it has been lately. But for Spring, Sportmax has embraced the dress.Silk slipdresses with supersized dots or inset with sheer circles of tulle had a nice sense of ease. Same goes for the V-neck tunics with handkerchief hems that were accompanied by below-the-knee full skirts. Other dresses were draped from circles or squares of fabric, creating flowy, away-from-the-body shapes. Win, win, win. The motif was picked up by Lucite-heeled satin mules accessorized with fur pompoms. Those in particular rated with the Instagram audience.The polka-dot point had been sufficiently made by the time the show was over—and in all honesty, probably a few looks before then. But even if the Sportmax team could have left a few of the spotted narrow sheaths and spotted pajama sets back in the atelier, a V-neck dress with an overlay in a circle-patterned guipure lace was still a sophisticated, subtle evocation of their idea. All around, a strong outing.
19 September 2013
This was a sharp collection. The starting point for the Sportmax team wasExecutive Model,Ron Jude's photography book of nineties-era businessmen, and their riff on that inspiration managed to be both genuinely respectful of Wall Street's sartorial codes and genuinely feminine-feeling as well. That's a neat trick to pull off. The presentation-opening coat established the Sportmax strategy, adapting that ur-masculine garment, the trenchcoat, by giving it a cinched waist and a dramatic flare; elsewhere, fluid dresses and skirts gave boardroom pinstripe a sensual spin. The clothes didn't feel casual, but there was a nice attitude of offhandedness here, with the slouchy graphic knitwear packing an understated punch.The exception to the collection's strength was its prints of numbers: The Sportmax-ers were trying to make a point about the businessman's obsessions with numbers, but it wasn't asserted interestingly enough to compensate for the fact that most women just don't want to walk around with giant digits on their clothes. Now dudes, on the other hand, do love a football or basketball jersey. Fodder for another season ofmasculine/femininecross-pollination, perhaps.
29 May 2013
Apropos of Milan's wet snow, Sportmax sent out a strong collection this morning, one in which inventive outerwear led the way. Take the show opener, a brown beaver cocoon coat that was shorn into a cuboid, grid-like pattern, with contrast black lapels—even in a season in which fur has been everywhere, this one stood out for its graphic, super-modern feel. Other coats—in marled tweed, in caramel astrakhan with suede storm flaps, in tone-on-tone eel-skin stripes—followed the same ovoid lines. We've seen a lot of skirtsuits in Milan. It's a silhouette that can easily read "old lady," but the Sportmax team kept the look fresh and young by giving the skirts airy A-line cuts—some with slits, others pleated with sheer panels. There was plenty of legroom in carrot-shaped trousers, too. Most of the time, the pants were paired with chunky knits. Fuzzy angora sweaters in black and white checks or stripes promised the best of both worlds: practicality and a serious fashion punch.The clothes had a tactile quality, be it the short fringe of a silk fil coupe belted long-sleeve dress or the quilted leather of a sweatshirt-and-pencil-skirt combination. The felt diamonds appliquéd on a tulle shift felt like decoration for decoration's sake, but otherwise this show had a simple, winning immediacy. Well done.
21 February 2013
Sportmax's pre-fall outing was all about the mix. Head designer Grazia Malagoli, in town from Italy for the label's presentation, combined interesting textures and volumes to modern effect. A glossy navy beaver coat that came backed in bonded leather, for example, had a sculpted yet sleek cocoon silhouette. The shape carried through to other noteworthy outerwear pieces. Several skirts also merged proportions, coming across as kicky and A-line in front, with a sharp pencil shape in back. They earned themselves a double take, as did the printed pieces covered with Cy Twombly-esque scribbles. Malagodi would do well to stir things up further in the future.
7 January 2013
Here's a novelty this week in Milan: a show that advertises itself as having "no inspiring eras, no retro nostalgia." With the city in the grips of 1960s fever—Courrèges! Paco Rabanne! Mary Quant!—the designers at Sportmax opted to go modern-modern. There was a lot on the runway this afternoon that looked right for the here and now: boxy, almost spongy leather jackets and split-hem skirts that called to mind last season's Proenza Schouler show; sporty ribbed knits, some of which were coated in stripes of an almost reflective-looking plastic; easy-to-wear shift dresses arranged with more stripes in bold chevrons across the front.Not everything was quite as successful. The bands of transparent film that decorated the edges of shantung suits and coats were superfluous at best, a lame attempt at what the tailoring of the future might look like. The Sportmax team had better luck with the leather pieces at the end of the show that were laser-cut in houndstooth motifs. They had a cool, graphic zing.
20 September 2012
Like Proenza Schouler in New York, the Sportmax team took inspiration from martial arts for Fall. The quilting on coats, the rounded shapes of shoulders and sleeves on turtleneck sweaters, and the sporty cut of the technical-fabric pants all had their origins in the uniforms of karate, judo, and other elegantly dressed forms of fighting. Knotted black belts tied the collection together.Coats were a central conceit, no surprise for this Italian sportswear brand. They had a butch swagger, with boxy, masculine cuts; popped collars; or bold fur lapels. Dresses, on the other hand, accentuated the feminine, thanks to the curving, ergonomic contrast seams running up and down the sides.The edgy and urban look was something of a departure for Sportmax, but Asia is a big theme for Fall, which positions the label well going forward. Still, the NC-17 lyrics for accompaniment on the soundtrack were a tacky step too far. Especially with the starlet Chloë Moretz, just turned 15, sitting front-and-center with her mom.
24 February 2012
After a bright, floral show for Spring, Sportmax dimmed the lights for pre-fall. With the exception of a sunflower-colored coat and sweater, the collection was mostly dark, with an emphasis on pleating, skins, and in some cases, both at once. A key piece was a trompe l'oeil dress that at first glance suggested a leather tunic and plisséd skirt. It was shown, like many of the looks, with long leather gloves and chunky boots in both bootie and calf-high styles.
9 January 2012
Sportmax is at its best when its designers stick to the outerwear and tailoring that are the label's calling cards. Today's show-opening khaki trench gave you a reason to invest with its silvery lapels. A navy tuxedo with black revers was as faultless as the simple tapering trousers it was paired with. And a drawstring waist gave a timely touch of sport to a mint shirtdress. When the creative team makes obvious plays for trendiness, on the other hand, things can get tricky pretty quickly. We've seen Impressionist florals and studs elsewhere in Milan, but together on the runway here they looked like a double miscalculation. Sheer blouses and pants, likewise, made you wonder just how in touch the team is with its customers. That said, there were pieces here that will put Sportmax on women's shopping lists come Spring. A crewneck sweater, slightly oversize with the iridescence of an abalone shell, looked undeniably cool with a lacy pencil skirt.
23 September 2011
The Sportmax girl for Resort isn't paddling by the pool. She looks more like an emissary from the not-too-distant future, one chockablock with sharp lines, slightly sinister trenches, and space-age fabrication techniques. (To wit: The edges of a fluttery silk dress are "thermal-welded" with grosgrain ribbon, rather than sewn.) In this universe, man and woman are two sides of the same coin—or make that, the same look. A menswear-style pinstripe suit looks like business from the front; turn it around, though, and the back panel is actually a shimmering sheet of silk. Longer lengths and cuts tiptoe toward the severe, but a few plunging necklines add sex appeal to this cool, unexpected collection. And while the cutout gloves are probably best left in the future, there could be a market today for the cutout, patent loafer pumps.
18 May 2011
There were a lot of ideas on the Sportmax runway. Despite the fact that the press notes said all of them were inspired by "the chilly northern Europe portrayed in Ingmar Bergman's films, the timeless design of Arne Jacobsen, moorlands, and wide open spaces," it wasn't always easy to see how they fit together. But in the end that's of little matter. This is MaxMara's workhorse brand, and based on the trends we've seen elsewhere this season, more than a few of the design team's propositions look destined to stick. Most obvious, given that this is first an outerwear company, are the multi-fur coats. In a similar vein, the duster that opened the show and the V-neck sweater paneled in fur in the front have brethren on other runways, and that will make them a popular buy with retailers. A bit more surprising here were the paillettes—the best iteration was the narrow, side-slit skirt worn with the ribbed peplum sweater. Again, though, given that fashion's two biggest names, Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada, have been using sequins, these pieces will be a good sales bet. On the other hand, some items—the patent leather peplums-cum-belts and a couple of backless blouses providing glimpses of neon harness bras—looked like plays for editorial love. The award for coolest outfit goes to the long quilted vest belted over a white button-down and burgundy ankle-baring trousers.
25 February 2011
As with the Spring collection, the thoughts ofSportmaxdrifted toward the sixties for pre-fall, this time inching into the still-trendy seventies as well. The glamour-pusses who found themselves facing the lenses of Bailey, Avedon, and Penn provided the inspiration, and moved things in an appropriately grown-up direction: The butterflies fluttering over Spring's swingy mini-dresses were nowhere to be found here, and they weren't missed. Instead, Sportmax joined the chorus calling for long lengths and soft shapes. Wide, high-waisted trousers that grazed the floor stood out; likewise a gray wool cape with leather accents.
5 January 2011
Little sister to MaxMara, the Sportmax collection is where the Italian megabrand's design team gets to play a little. That was the plan for Spring, which took its inspiration fromLes Demoiselles de Rochefort, the lively 1967 French musical starring Catherine Deneuve and Gene Kelly. The predominant silhouette, leg-baring and A-line, gave the show its mod, youthful feel; butterfly appliqués on trapeze dresses, candy-colored stripes on shifts, and eyelet in red, white, and navy blue provided the whimsy. Sprinkled here and there was fare of the more hardworking sort: a belted ivory pantsuit, a fitted dark denim dress. And because this is a company built on outerwear, there were some smart coats to choose from—tops among them a swingy khaki cotton trench.With fashion, for the most part, feeling for the decade that came after the sixties this season, it's the timeless pieces in this collection, like that raincoat, that will have legs on the sales floor.
22 September 2010
Sportmax designs simple, easy-to-wear clothes for people who want the look of the moment without taking too many fashion risks. This season revolved around a beach motif, featuring shorts, customized tank tops and sexy bikinis decorated with petals. Simple T-shirts received a glamour boost with paillette detailing, and a Pucci-like print showed up on liquid chiffon skirts and handkerchief shirts. The "modern nomad" looks were accessorized with '80s-style sunglasses and gigantic bags—big enough to carry your beach supplies, or your all-important traveling essentials.
27 September 1999