There is no shortage of brands that traffic in trendiness or social media-driven statement dressing. A considered, comprehensive approach to wardrobe building, on the other hand, can be a rarer find in fashion these days. The strength of Max Mara lies in its ability to reliably provide real clothes for real women regardless of how the winds of trends may blow. Sure, each season, creative director Ian Griffiths and his design team look to different characters (real or fictional), moments and movements in history for inspiration, but their particular savvy is in translating these references into actual clothes—instead of costumes—that feel right for right now.
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In the past couple of seasons, the brand has referenced the 18th-century Versailles court favourite, Madame de Pompadour, as well as the strong-willed characters in the novels of the Brontë sisters. For fall/winter 2026, Griffiths and co. looked much, much further back—all the way back to the Dark Ages. The historical figure they trained their lens on was Matilde di Canossa, a woman who defied the norms of her time to become a renowned diplomat and military commander.
Of course, this being Max Mara, the brand was never going to just reproduce medieval garb wholesale. Instead, they took the essence of what constituted the wardrobe of a strong woman then, and recontextualised it for today. The results felt grand and powerful, yet still believable in a day-to-day setting. Outerwear—the brand’s bread-and-butter category—was unsurprisingly the highlight here. Coats were commanding in shape and sweeping in length; they often came with roomy sleeves and strong shoulders. Some of them were accented with leather or suede patches that reinforced the message of strength.
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Equally strong was the sculpted knitwear, especially when done in a rich, nubby texture. These were balanced out by barrel-shaped trousers that emphasised the female form or silky, gored maxi skirts that clung to the body without constricting it. The long gloves and high, flat boots that accompanied them underscored the armour-like feel of the clothes. As always, the palette was inspired by nature; but this time around, the colours were lifted from the natural world’s most powerful and wily creatures—namely the soft greys, tawny reds and earthy browns of the wolf, fox and lion, respectively.
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