ReportageThe Italian brand Weekend Max Mara offers a world tour to its emblematic handbag, born in 2016. The goal? Honoring ancestral local know-how. First stopover in Venice, with the Fortuny fabric from the island of Giudecca and Murano glass.
In Murano, the glassmaker Gambaro & Tagliapietra has been heating its ovens since 1974. The Italian workshop was then called Vetreria Artistica Gambaro & Poggi. But it’s been much longer than the sand and soda pushed to more than 1,000 ° C are transformed into glass vials on the small island located about ten minutes by boat from Saint Mark’s Square.
More than eight centuries since Venice, renowned for its glassmaking know-how, made the choice to move its furnaces to Murano, fearing more than anything the idea of a fire starting on the main island, rich in buildings and various wooden constructions… Today, the company, which has seven employees and three master glassmakers, hides behind a metal door, out of sight, but willingly opens up to anyone wishing to observe the still spectacular birth of a vase or a plate.
It is here, at Gambaro & Tagliapietra, that the glass beads were made that adorn the retro clasp of the bag launched these days by Weekend Max Mara. The Italian group’s casual line has existed since 1983 and has evolved to become a real fashion and lifestyle brand, focused on leisure, travel and holidays. She defends a wardrobe that is easy to wear and transport in a small suitcase.
In this month of May, on the island of Murano deserted by tourists caught up in the Biennale, the master glassmaker who shapes these balls has settled in the courtyard of the factory to work and demonstrate his art. Under the flame of his blowtorch, the sticks of colored glass melt and, thanks to an expert knack, become perfect little spheres. Some will be enhanced with contrasting colors creating a marbled effect, others will keep a perfectly plain monochrome finish. On the workbench, a wooden log serves as a display stand for a dozen “pearls” arranged in pairs, a small one associated with a large one, one plain with a marbled one, in shades of blue, green, purple, blood orange… suggesting possible associations for clasps.
The idea of Weekend Max Mara, a brand with a traveling soul, was to take its model baptized “Pasticcino Bag”, launched in 2016, around the world. This was to promote, in the cities where it would stop, some local know-how. The first port of call being Venice, the island of Murano quickly imposed itself. And to form the supple and plump body of this special Venetian edition, it was decided to cut in Fortuny fabrics with patterns and colors matching the glass balls. The result, soberly vintage, delicate and original, plays on the sensuality of textures, the subtlety of references, and breaks with everything that is currently being done in the world of handbags.
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