Max Mara S/S 2020 Milan Fashion Week Women's

Max Mara S/S 2020 Women's at Milan Fashion Week — Max Mara S/S 2020.

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd Evans)

Mood board: Feminist cinema fans breathed a sigh of relief, when, in April it was announced that Fleabag and Killing Eve scriptwriting star Phoebe Waller Bridge was consulting on the upcoming James Bond film. For Bond 25 next spring, it’s reported that Lashana Lynch will take the role of a female 007 for the very first time. Spy reboots are all the rage for 2019 too. Just look to the upcoming release of the new Charlie’s Angels.   

For S/S 2020, Max Mara creative director Ian Griffiths imagined the wardrobe for the new 007, from the suiting shapes worn when striding through the whispering corridors of Whitehall to downtime get ups on paradisal shores, arrived at by private jet. The sartorial tricks up her secret agent sleeve? For stunt-worthy missions, three-piece short suits sported with ties, army caps and aviators – in executive greys or sugary shades, or nature-blending jumpsuits with gadget-awaiting utility pockets. For an office debrief, slouchy 1970s culottes and silk blazers in a smattering of polka dots, and for glamorous undercover events on private islands, frilled silk gowns in delicate paisley print or bias cut dresses with sultry harness backs. Bond has never looked so stylish.

Team work: Last season, Griffiths bought empowering pizzazz to his A/W 2019 runway, with models strutting boldly in groups of twos and threes. The same communal strut followed for spring, with Candice Swanepoel, Gigi Hadid, and Doutzen Kroes opening the show together, sporting those executive short-suit looks. At the show’s finale, Max Mara’s secret agent set strode together in an empowering army, ready for their next mission.

Best in show: The 007 looks rendered in beiges, greys and Prince-de-Galles fabrics showed a subtle, utilitarian wearability, suitable for any working woman.

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