Weekend Max Mara develops collab collection with Alek Wek

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Apr 23, 2021

Alek Wek has developed a colorful new capsule collection with Weekend Max Mara.

The Sudanese-born model worked with Max Mara’s in-house design team in Reggio Emilia to create the collection, a blend of her African roots, cosmopolitan lifestyle and artistic eye.
 
To Wek, the collection is an infusion of “African culture with a London calling vibe and a touch of Boho.” The fall/winter 2021 collection reaches retail shelves in September.

Weekend Max Mara was launched in 1983 as a casual outdoors weekend collection, but has evolved into an authentic Italian lifestyle brand with a distinct identity. 
 
Wek’s take on Weekend Max Mara values includes softly tailored coats; sleeveless shearling vests over draped and flouncy dresses; sleeveless jumpsuits and high-rise flared jeans. Knits are rich and cold-weather perfect while a velvet coat that channels a vintage feel is a handsome highlight of the capsule. 
 
Wek is the latest personality to collaborate with Weekend Max Mara, which previously launched collabs with Lucinda Chambers, long-time fashion director of British Vogue; Oscar-winning costume designer Gabriella Pescucci; and American artist Richard Saja inspired by the historical Royal Ascot races.
 
Wek fled from her native South Sudan when the civil war broke out in 1983 and ended up in the UK. She studied Fashion Business at the London College of Fashion and was especially fascinated by the classes of art and history. 
 
In 1997, Wek graced the cover of Elle magazine, the first African model in the publication's history. Shortly after, Wek appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was named Model of the Year by MTV. 
 
Besides gracing multiple magazine covers and walking in literally hundreds of manor runways, Wek is a Goodwill Ambassador to The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and in 2018 appeared in Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria.