Max Mara’s longtime partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art continued in celebratory style last Friday night, as Max Mara Chairman Luigi Maramotti played host at the museum’s new Meatpacking District space. After guests were welcomed to a dinner held on the museum’s top floor, Whitney’s Director Adam Weinberg, Chief Curator Donna De Salvo, and architect of the new building Renzo Piano, led them on a private tour. The opening of the inaugural exhibit “America is Hard To See” at the museum was also an important aspect of the festive night, and also on display, was the brand new bag Max Mara debuted just days before.
In collaboration with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), the fashion house put forth a new handbag, the “Max Mara Whitney Bag designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop” last Wednesday. Versions of this stamped and numbered leather beauty will be available in three different sizes and in an array of classic colors: light blue-grey, black, Bordeaux, and tan. This limited-edition collection of 250 bags was inspired by the Whitney’s bold new façade, and is an elegant, contrasting bag that dons buckles, pockets, and snap hooks in relation to colors used in RPBW’s design motifs.
Throughout the night, guests like Laurie Tisch, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dakota Fanning, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Nathalie de Gunzburg, Giorgio Guidotti, Elizabeth Peabody, and family of all of the night’s directors enjoyed simplicity in lush floral décor by Van Wyck & Van Wyck, and lively music by DJs Harley Viera-Newton and Zoë Kravitz.
After a toast to the new bag, and two toasts to the new building, all in attendance seemed to be in great spirits (and great attire, too) in the Whitney’s new home.
