At the age of 26, Catherine Guadagnuolo was taking a flight, then a train, then a bus, and then walking into the Max Mara head office in Italy to ask for a meeting with a young Luigi Maramotti. The reason? Max Mara representatives had told her they weren’t interested in being carried in North America.
“I was in the clothing business and I had zeroed in on a line called Max Mara,” Guadagnuolo explains. “I had gone to the trade fair and they said, ‘Why don’t you get your store open first.’ They weren’t interested in exporting. So I looked up where their headquarters were, a couple hours south of Milan, and I found myself at the factory saying, ‘I’d like to speak to Mr. Maramotti.’”
Getting an unscheduled meeting with Maramotti was akin to asking to drop in on the Pope. But he happened to be in the office that day, and was intrigued by Guadagnuolo’s nerve, and grasp of Italian.
“I didn’t realize at the time that Max Mara was such an important company within Europe. They’re the top manufacturer in Italy. But we were about the same age, and he said, “You know what? We’re going to go with you. We’re going to take this chance.’”
Almost 30 years later, Guadagnuolo, president and founder of Vestis Fashion Group, now helms the most Max Maras in a single city in North America (three Max Maras and two Weekend by Max Maras), and each of her stores is doing more business than the Manhattan location. The kicker? These stores are all in Vancouver.
“I’ve been doing this for 28 years with Max Mara, so they have a certain faith in my ability because [of the] stores. It’s unheard of. They still talk about it in Italy. We sell more Max Mara in Vancouver than they do in New York.”
The success of her vision has meant that Vancouver is possibly the most Max Mara-friendly city in the world.
On March 1, Max Mara unveiled its new 3,850-sq.ft. flagship location at 3025 Granville — the largest in Canada and the product of a four-month renovation of what was formerly the Winsor Gallery.
The store concept was developed by Duccio Grassi Architects, lavished with custom floor and wall finishings direct from Italy, lit like a place of worship by an opulent overhead light well, and lined with an entire wardrobe’s worth of European finery. (Did we mention it’s now North America’s first and only boutique to carry the bridal collection?)
Max Mara is our kind of one-stop shop.
Embodying the prêt-à-porter philosophy that is increasingly popular among brides-to-be (meaning you don’t need to plan six months ahead — the style is in-store and in your size), the price point of the bridal collection is a can-you-please-repeat-that $2,500 to $4,000. And Guadagnuolo was chosen to launch the bridal collection here because of the relationship she formed with the House of Max Mara so many years ago.
The serene private shopping space contains not only 16 styles of wedding gowns but exquisitely twisted tiaras, handmade Sicilian veils, bridesmaid and mother-of-the-bride gowns and other sophisticated extras.
“It’s simple to make a dress blinging and shocking to the eyes. It’s hard to make a simple dress beautiful,” says Guadagnuolo. “Anybody can distract you. It’s about the bride, not the dress.”
And any bride would feel at ease in Guadagnuolo’s hands. During a media walk-through of the space, she greets customers by name, seems to have an uncanny knowledge of when she has seen them last, and gently guides them to some choice pieces of the bold new collection, which caught the attention of fashion writers with its silhouettes in timberwolf grey, fleshy nude and champagne gold, and electric accents in Persian greens, tomato reds and vivid violets. From sheer knits to cocoon coats, cami dresses to overcoats, the Spring/Summer ‘14 staples are here.
So, now, not only can you trust your entire wardrobe to Max Mara, you can trust your biggest day of your life to them, too.
