Every June, the Los Angeles-based Women In Film foundation throws a lavish awards ceremony to celebrate women who are at the forefront of the industry.
Founded in 1973 by Tichi Wilkerson Kassel – former editor in chief of The Hollywood Reporter – the Crystal & Lucy Awards recognise and promote talented female directors, actors, ­cinematographers, producers and critics, to help them break through the so-called “celluloid ceiling”.
Women in film still face plenty of obstacles, as seen in the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal and the resultant #TimesUp movement, as well as reports on the gender pay gap. A case in point: for the reshoots for 2017 film All the Money in the World, actor Mark Wahlberg earned US$2 million (Dh7.3m) for 10 days’ work, while his co-star Michelle Williams reportedly got paid $80 a day for the same period.
Fashion house Max Mara is a fervent supporter of Women In Film (WIF) – and this relationship began long before the topic of female empowerment became trendy, says MariaGiulia Prezioso Maramotti, Max Mara’s vice president for the United States and global brand ambassador. “Max Mara’s mission has been to empower women, by dressing them, for the past 67 years,” ­Maramotti explains. “It was just natural that we entered into a partnership with WIF as part of our way of communicating to our customers.
The Max Mara customer of which she speaks is, of course, female and drawn to the elegant, unfussy womenswear that the brand is famed for. Founded by Achille Maramotti in Italy in 1951, Max Mara’s aim was to blend high-end cuts and style with industrial tailoring techniques. In an era when most clothes were still handmade, this shift in approach was a game changer, ­offering garments that were still beautifully designed, but available at a far more affordable price.
Almost uniquely, the brand spoke to working women, creating smart, ­highly wearable solutions. The reaction was spectacular, with ladies flocking to snap up its creations. One piece in particular became an instant classic: the 101801 camel coat in supple wool and cashmere, which is still a bestseller. Coupling a quiet, ­under-the-radar aesthetic with smart yet practical dressing meant that by the time of his death in 2005, Achille Maramotti was the head of a company worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Today, the company is still owned and run by the Maramotti clan, with Achille’s granddaughter MariaGiulia representing the third generation of the family.
The brand’s partnership with WIF comes in the form of financial sponsorship, and led to the creation of the Max Mara Face of the Future Award, which every year selects one emerging actress deserving of special recognition. Past recipients including Kate Mara, Hailee Steinfeld, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth Banks, Ginnifer Goodwin and Emily Blunt, showing that Max Mara is not only ahead of the game in terms of promoting equality, but has a pretty good eye for talent, too.
When not doling out accolades to up-and-coming talents, Max Mara runs a serious business trying to anticipate and cater to the needs of an ever-­evolving audience. Its ability to weather the vagaries of consumer demand can perhaps be attributed to the brand’s internal stability, both in terms of the consistency of still being owned by the same family, and of having the same designer at its helm for 30 years. The British-born creative Ian Griffiths has fashioned collections for Max Mara for more than three decades, and yet far from being a household name, most people have never heard of him.
“The idea of a designer like Ian Griffiths being with the company for three decades means that he has grown with it, and there has been an intertwining between his vision and the one of the brand, which was obviously not revolutionary, yet evolved organically.
Far from being staid and predictable, however, Griffiths has been – quietly – challenging boundaries. Max Mara was one of the first big-name brands to put the hijab-wearing Halima Aden on the runway in 2017, kick-starting not only her career, but forcing other designers to start thinking about diversity. Following in the footsteps of founder Achille, Griffiths has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure that the label keeps apace with the lives of modern women.