DOWN SOUTH: After landing north, west and east, Max Mara is looking to the south of Italy again.
The Italian fashion brand is planning a two-day resort 2026 experience, which will include a runway show, in Naples on June 16 and 17.
In 2021, the brand held its resort 2022 show on the island of Ischia, at the striking Mezzatorre Hotel, overlooking the Gulf of Naples and nestled in a former 16th-century watchtower.
Last year the brand’s resort 2025 show was staged in Venice at the Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace. A masterpiece of Gothic architecture, the palace stands in the city’s central Piazza San Marco square, adjacent to the iconic Basilica and with a wing overlooking the lagoon. The year before, Max Mara‘s creative director Ian Griffiths chose to parade the brand’s resort collection at Stockholm’s City Hall, built in 1911 and recognizable as a symbol of the city with its tower and red brick structure, where the Nobel Prizes for literature and the sciences are hosted.
In 2022, the brand traveled to Lisbon, Portugal, in the garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, for the resort 2023 show.
Starting with the 2015 pre-fall season, Max Mara has staged runway shows in New York, London, Shanghai, Reggio Emilia — where it is headquartered — and Berlin.
The event in Naples will coincide with the first day of international menswear trade show Pitti Uomo, which will kick off in Florence on June 17 and run until June 20, followed by the men’s shows for spring 2026 in Milan to be held June 20 to 24.
As reported, Gucci‘s creative director Sabato De Sarno has selected Florence to present the brand’s cruise show on May 15 and Chanel said that its destination show is scheduled for April 29 on Lake Como, Italy. The latter brand is still without a creative director after the exit of Virginie Viard in June, although Matthieu Blazy, who has been leading Bottega Veneta, has emerged as the top contender for Chanel.