There is something incredibly gratifying about sun-soaked escapism right now. Rather than feasting on sorrow and sadness, for many, gulping in the joyous memories of holidays past or simply looking at lovely things is proving the ultimate remedy right now. And Max Mara’s new collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is exactly the aide-mémoire we are searching for.
Drenched in sunny optimism, Max Mara’s notable icon, the Whitney Bag, has undergone a painterly makeover to mark its 5th anniversary.
Contrived in collaboration with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop to celebrate the opening of the Whitney Museum of American Art five years ago, the bag was created to mirror the fêted architectural structure of the building itself. Its distinctive ribbing, for example, recalls the steel tie-beamed exterior of the new Whitney’s facade, gradually becoming the fine lines on the handbag. While all its metal detailing is based on the observation of the structural metal components of the museum’s architecture, with the façade of the building used as inspiration for the bag’s buckles. Even the inside pocket and the unmistakable snap hook act as a signature feature of the bag. Like its namesake, the bag too is a feat of architectural triumph, superbly engineered and crafted in the highest quality leather.
Today, however, it has been revisited with a painterly splash. To celebrate its 5th anniversary, the cult bag has been revived in a special edition version dedicated to the preeminent American painter, Florine Stettheimer, who boasts an important presence at the Whitney. An early feminist and activist ante-litteram (1871-1944), Stettheimer’s work “Sun,” created in 1931, inspired the bag’s cheery new color palette – marigold yellow, orange, coral red, plum and peony – plus a painterly interior. Open up Whitney and you shall find a gloriously floral-printed lining which bears the stamp of Stettheimer’s 1931 masterpiece.
Happy and undeniably escapist, this anniversary edition, or better yet five, are pieces to collect and treasure – like works of art.
Mini Anniversary Whitney Bag in bright yellow, Max Mara. shop now
