During lockdown, Ian Griffiths happened to watch a BBC documentary on Lee Miller, the multitalented American model turned photojournalist who became a war correspondent for
Vogue in the ’40s. “She has belonged to my pantheon of heroines since my days as a student at London’s Royal College of Arts,” said Griffiths during a showroom appointment. “Her life as a strong-willed, driven, independent woman resonates deeply with the values we embrace at Max Mara.”
Miller’s life was rather well documented, so the designer poured over thousands of her photographs; taken mostly in black-and-white or in shades of gray, they inspired the pre-fall collection’s chic color palette. Miller modeled in the ’20s for the likes of Edward Steichen and George Hoyningen-Huene, swathed in couture. For her work as a reporter on the battlefields she obviously dressed in no-nonsense mannish military attire, while managing to keep her glam appeal intact. Riffing on this contrast, and drawing a