Max Mara The Cube is an integrated system of outerwear and accessories that has been around the “block” a few times. The project - which was first released in 2008 - boasts a clear-cut identity, which is further accentuated by the unmistakable “Cube” packaging.
Max Mara The Cube
The Max Mara The Cube’s design is so innovative that it has been “boxed” into the display cases at the Berlin State Museums and New York’s FIT, as a “cult object” in the “Fashion and Technology” exhibitions.
In a bid to celebrate the research and innovation behind the Max Mara The Cube’s design, we asked three photographers to provide us with their own visual interpretation of the project and provided them with just one prompt: life, cubed.
“I realized that every single picture I took of them, they were huddled — a feeling that they were in a cozy down protection. I made them feel close, warm, and protected, and that’s the best you can do as a parent.”
The box containing The Cube garments was left on photographer and director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s doorstep, just as Los Angeles was preparing to enter lockdown to try to stem the outbreak of COVID-19. Sam therefore decided to abandon her idea of shooting in the studio and chose her two daughters as her impromptu models.
Besides her fame for directing feature films such as Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Grey, Sam is no stranger to the art world; her often autobiographical photographs boast various interpretative layers and also deal with the theme of death, a subject close to Sam - a two-time cancer survivor's - heart. It should therefore come as no surprise that the images created for The Cube project, epitomise a sense of true comfort that accurately reflects the testing yet historical moment in which they were captured.
“I realized that every single picture I took of them, they were huddled — a feeling that they were in a cozy down protection. I made them feel close, warm, and protected, and that’s the best you can do as a parent.”
The box containing The Cube garments was left on photographer and director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s doorstep, just as Los Angeles was preparing to enter lockdown to try to stem the outbreak of COVID-19. Sam therefore decided to abandon her idea of shooting in the studio and chose her two daughters as her impromptu models.
Besides her fame for directing feature films such as Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Grey, Sam is no stranger to the art world; her often autobiographical photographs boast various interpretative layers and also deal with the theme of death, a subject close to Sam - a two-time cancer survivor's - heart. It should therefore come as no surprise that the images created for The Cube project, epitomise a sense of true comfort that accurately reflects the testing yet historical moment in which they were captured.
“I was looking for visually and structurally complex environments. Nothing too neat. Nothing too ordered. I wanted an environment and a tonality that complemented The Cube.”
Stephen Shore, a giant amongst the pantheon of photographic greats, sold his first photographs to New York’s prestigious MOMA at the tender age of 14. In the 60s, he hung out with Andy Warhol at the Factory and by the age of 24, he had a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under his belt.
Shore’s documentary-style approach sees the Max Mara The Cube garments installed in all their glory in settings that oscillate between urban and industrial landscapes: nothing too neat, nothing too staged, just an environment that complements the Max Mara The Cube collection by creating the perfect visual balance.
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“I was looking for visually and structurally complex environments. Nothing too neat. Nothing too ordered. I wanted an environment and a tonality that complemented The Cube.”
Stephen Shore, a giant amongst the pantheon of photographic greats, sold his first photographs to New York’s prestigious MOMA at the tender age of 14. In the 60s, he hung out with Andy Warhol at the Factory and by the age of 24, he had a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under his belt.
Shore’s documentary-style approach sees the Max Mara The Cube garments installed in all their glory in settings that oscillate between urban and industrial landscapes: nothing too neat, nothing too staged, just an environment that complements the Max Mara The Cube collection by creating the perfect visual balance.
“My characters, sets, and ideas are an amalgam of the things I’ve collected moving through life”
Alex Prager grew up in Los Angeles in the ubiquitous fine line between reality and fantasy for which the city has become known. Born into a family of artistic practitioners, Alex soon became passionate about classic cinema, whilst intently studying the role of the director to conceive “the all-encompassing worlds for characters to live in.”
In fact, Alex’s interpretation of the Max Mara The Cube project epitomises a union of emotions and characters - reality and fantasy - with her authentic cinematic tableau-style images, in which the protagonist, Vanessa, is Alex’s sister-cum-infallible muse.
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“My characters, sets, and ideas are an amalgam of the things I’ve collected moving through life”
Alex Prager grew up in Los Angeles in the ubiquitous fine line between reality and fantasy for which the city has become known. Born into a family of artistic practitioners, Alex soon became passionate about classic cinema, whilst intently studying the role of the director to conceive “the all-encompassing worlds for characters to live in.”
In fact, Alex’s interpretation of the Max Mara The Cube project epitomises a union of emotions and characters - reality and fantasy - with her authentic cinematic tableau-style images, in which the protagonist, Vanessa, is Alex’s sister-cum-infallible muse.
Eleven other photographers have previously been asked to interpret the project: Erik Madigan Heck, Koto Bolofo, Rinko Kawauchi, Hellen Van Meene, Max Farago, Lorenzo Vitturi, Christopher Anderson, Tina Barney, Tierney Gearon, Laurie Simmons and Marilyn Minter.
