MAX MARA TEDDY TEN: THE EVOLUTION OF AN ICON 

What makes an icon? Fame, success, recognition, longevity? For Max Mara, it’s a state of mind born from a desire to create sophisticated wardrobe classics. The Italian house marries premium fabrics with informed tailoring to craft pieces that remain irresistible whatever the occasion or the time. Max Mara’s greatest triumphs have the rare power to accompany us through all stages of our lives until they eventually come to tell a story of their own. There is much in the world that is beautiful, but few items of clothing possess both beauty and staying power. The Teddy Bear Icon Coat happens to be one of them.  

Deep in the Max Mara archive lies a pea coat developed in the 1980s with a plush fabric crafted by German mills typically used for high-end children’s toys. Forgotten over time once these mills ceased production, it was creative director Ian Griffith’s fortuitous encounter with this coat in 2013 that galvanised his mission to reintroduce a sense of childlike wonder to the makings of a luxury garment. The result? An exquisite faux fur coat fashioned from pure camel hair woven onto a sumptuous silk base. Its oversized shoulder-to-ankle silhouette and deliciously opulent fabric striking the perfect balance between effortless glamour and playful versatility. 

The Teddy Bear Coat turns 10 this year, but that it still exudes every bit of charm as it did at its runway debut is testament to its lasting appeal. In celebration of the Teddy’s decade-spanning evolution, LN-CC takes to the streets of East London to capture the wear-forever staple in all its glorious iterations and possibilities. Through the lens of Argentine photographer Matia Alfonzo, we behold this season’s Teddy-clad woman in nostalgic cream and camel colourways as well as newly released shades raspberry and pink rose. Whether reclining on the hood of her convertible, waiting on the stoop of her stairs, or running down freshly rained streets, the wearer of the Teddy Bear Coat remains safely yet stylishly cocooned against the tumultuous elements of city life, and Alonzo’s to capture daily life with in colour-rich dream-like scenes flair for serves as a poetic embodiment of the Teddy Bear Coat’s own everyday indulgence. 

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that nobody pulls off big coat energy quite like Max Mara. Redefining timeless sophistication, the Teddy Bear Icon Coat’s ten-year anniversary is a tactile reminder of who we were, are and will be. An amalgamation of selves that have found a home in the stitches of this beloved garment. In Griffiths’ words, “it’s a big scary world, and nobody’s grown-up enough not to need something to cling to…we’re all looking for a little comfort and security.”