The Autumn Winter 2021 Signature Collection by Weekend Max Mara is created in collaboration with Alek Wek, a world-famous model and global icon whose beauty and vision continue to empower women all over the world.
A crossroad between her South Sudanese roots, cosmopolitan life, high-fashion stardom and artistic eye, Wek describes the collection as an infusion of “African culture with a London calling vibe and a touch of Boho.” Modern, cozy, and inventive, Wek created, together with the Weekend Max Mara team, an authentic lineup built on great standalone pieces to be mixed-and-matched liberally, bonding sophistication and practicality with a work-into-week-end versatility. With inclusivity in mind, the collection enhances women, their backgrounds, strengths, and beauty via garments that are classic and cool, powerful and fun.
Wek fled from her native South Sudan when the civil war broke out in 1983 and landed in London, where she studied Fashion Business at the London College of Fashion and was especially fascinated by the classes of art and history. Besides gracing the covers of top glossies and the glitziest runways, Wek is a Goodwill Ambassador to The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee and in 2018 appeared in Luca Guadagnino’s remake of “Suspiria.”
In sync with her personal style and with the Weekend Max Mara values, the key staples of the collection include softly tailored coats, a trench coat, a sleeveless shearling vest tossed over draped and flouncy dresses with passementerie trim, a sleeveless jumpsuit and high-rise flared jeans. Knits are rich and cold-weather perfect while a velvet coat that channels a vintage feel is a handsome highlight of the capsule. Blu and ebony dominate the color palette with a spectrum of accents inspired by the flag of South Sudan where each color has a specific meaning: yellow for the sun, green for the land, red for blood, blue for the sky, white for peace and black for the people.
Her personal touch and artistic vein trickle down to the prints, including graphics borrowed from some of her artworks that liven up fluid dresses and on the silk scarves. Fabrics span from “waxed” cotton to velvet, from wool in all weights to slinky silks.
The accessories provide that distinctive extra touch whether it’s the signature Pasticcino Bag with a detachable embroidered strap, a felt fedora hat, riding boots or a thick belt with crisscross laces.
All to be layered and mixed freely because as Wek puts it, “style is what you make it.”