Ian Griffiths is a British ex-punk and not what you might expect from the classic Italian brand
One night in 1982, a 19-year-old club kid called Ian Griffiths, who had recently dropped out of an architecture degree because “there was just too much fun to be had in Manchester, to be honest”, was at a party in Wythenshawe. He was living on £37.50 a week benefit, and “perfectly happy. I made all my own clothes, I got into all the clubs free.” When the Haçienda nightclub opened in the city, Griffiths went every night without fail for the first six months – “and I didn’t eat anyway, so there was no requirement for food. But there we were, wasted on the sofa, and the news came on that Margaret Thatcher was considering conscription for the Falklands war for the unemployed. So I thought I’d better do something. That’s how I ended up studying fashion.”
The brand Max Mara conjures an image of camel coats and conservative northern Italian style, so Ian Griffiths, its designer for three decades, is not what you might expect. The man sitting opposite me in the Guardian canteen – the unstarry interview location was his choice, being close to where he lives when he is in London – is the most influential British designer you have never heard of. With annual sales reported to be more than £1bn, Max Mara is that rare thing, a fashion-week label whose heart is in the real world. For six decades, Max Mara did not have a public-facing designer – a unique move in the gladiatoral arena that is Milan fashion week, where Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana are all represented by personalities as well as brands. And then in February last year Griffiths cast Halima Aden in his catwalk show, making Max Mara’s the first Milan show to feature a headscarf-wearing model. Before the show, Griffiths told Luigi Maramotti, the chairman and owner, about the casting. “He said it was fine, but that he hoped it wouldn’t attract too much attention. Of course it did attract attention. But Mr Maramotti was delighted because that reaction was entirely positive.”
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