Max Mara’s Creative Director revives his four-decades-old student collection for the brand’s Resort show in Venice

The Creative Director of Italian fashion house Max Mara has recreated pieces from a collection he designed while studying at Manchester Met almost 40 years ago.

As Ian Griffiths was designing Max Mara’s Resort 2025 collection, he looked to Venice for inspiration. It was the same city that inspired his final year collection as a student - a collection that was stored safely in his loft.  When he rediscovered the pieces, he realised they perfectly complemented his vision for the brand’s Resort collection. 

As a result, Griffiths created four looks for Max Mara which were identical to those he designed for Manchester Met’s fashion show at the Whitworth Art Gallery in June 1985.

The looks, which feature intricate silk-satin mosaic and serpentine prints, were worn by the final four models during the Max Mara runway show held at the Palazzo Ducale, Venice earlier this week (Tuesday).

The show, and revival of Griffiths’ student collection, coincided with Manchester Met’s 200-year anniversary, which this month is celebrating how it champions creative excellence, including at its Manchester Fashion Institute, one of the largest fashion schools in the UK.

During his studies at the University, Griffiths travelled to Venice, where he was inspired by the city’s impressive and historic architecture. His final degree project was a collection based on the sketchbooks he started there.

Griffiths’ tutor, the legendary fashion designer Ossie Clark, mentored him through the process of developing those sketchbooks into prints, in collaboration with final year textiles student, Caroline Daly.

Griffiths said: “When I was a shock-haired fashion student at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Met),  I spent a glorious summer interrailing around Europe and, specifically, Italy. I was fascinated by the dark, mysterious splendour of the ceremonial spaces and churches, particularly the Palazzo Ducale and San Marco.

“My final degree project was a collection based on the sketchbooks I started there. Ossie got me thinking of the best way to use those prints. He told me to forget everything I had ever learned about pattern cutting. By wrapping and looping them around the body we discovered a rationale entirely suited to the fabrics we had created.

“Nearly 40 years later, I found myself looking again to Venice for inspiration. Miraculously, the pieces from my 1985 collection were still safe in the attic and, when I dusted them off, I realised that they still work today. The final four looks we showed at the Palazzo Ducale are identical to those we showed at the Whitworth Art Gallery in June 1985.”