Max Mara’s SS18 collection shares a Baudelairean view of the city; its landscape a living breathing entity, its mood swings restless, fleeting, transient, and often unpredictable. The smarter cosmopolites seek out discreetly luxurious oases, shady patios and hidden gardens. Business and pleasure, with the promise of alfresco breakfast powwows, sun-dappled working lunches, garden parties and well earned crepuscular cocktails. The settings for those happy rendez-vous are staged by a nouvelle vague of philosophers-cum-gardeners ‘work with, not against nature’ urges Gilles Clément.

Their collection is a precisely calibrated wardrobe for the hedonistic citizens of this modern terrain. There’s lean tailoring in stone, black and white -sometimes executed in organza to reveal the inner workings in layers of transparency- as sharp as the midsummer play of sun, and the shadow on urban architecture.

To complement the subdued elegance of those exclusive pit stops a sand-on-sand heritage logo motif, dating from the company’s early days, are woven into a trenches’ and printed onto leather jackets. To echo the colours of those up-to-the-minute parterres, this season’s must-have mauves and a street smart take on florals; delicately painted sprays, as fresh as the evening dew.

The urban the trench coat re-emerges, as does the crisp linens and sassy pencil skirts, there are natty little mannish coats and jeans jackets to wear with boy-cut pants, which are all designed with an eye of understated elegance. For a spot of drama, there are ankle grazing skirts: buckled kilts in gauzy linen for everyday, and for dressier moments, georgette, pleated and cut into strips that flutter seductively.

Complete with soft outsize bags and sleek clutches in all the patterns and prints of the collection, and this season’s Iris sun-glasses, Max Mara’s latter-day flâneuses are perfectly accoutred to savour the summertime city’s delights.

Accessories and Eyewear– Max Mara

Makeup– Tom Pecheux and the MAC Pro Team

Hair– Sam McKnight

Music– Johnny Dynell