When Max Mara debuted the Teddy Coat on the runway in 2013, it became an overnight sensation. The cocoon-like outerwear was described by The New York Times as “fuzzy and enveloping, cuddly and adorable.” To mark the style’s 10-year anniversary, the brand opened a pop-up boutique in one of America’s most stylish cold-weather destinations: Aspen, Colorado. Last night, CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson joined Nicola Lees, the Nancy and Bob Magoon director of the Aspen Art Museum, and Max Mara USA CEO Cristian Notari at a dinner benefiting the museum and celebrating the occasion.
Guests—including Kathy Hilton, Tina Leung, Away Co-Founder Jen Rubio, AAM Board Member Sarah Arison, St. Regis Aspen owners Stephane and Sabrina De Baets, Marieclaire St John, Odessa Rae, AAM patron Jackie Bucksbaum, Max Mara's Judgie Graham, Salt + Snow founder Sara Zilkha, U Beauty Founder Tina Chen Craig, and AAM Co-President Melony Lewis—sipped cocktails and dined at the Shigeru Ban-designed museum, which is currently staging a show of work by the late artist John Chamberlain.
Just down the road, the pop-up inside Aspen’s Hotel Jerome on Main Street offers a selection of seasonal outerwear, ready-to-wear, and winter accessories, as well as two special editions of the Teddy Coat created exclusively for the anniversary season. The Teddy’s signature textured camel fabric also covers furniture, throw pillows, and parts of the pop-up's walls.
Panoramas of the Dolomites are projected around the space, bringing a dash of the Italian spirit to the Colorado mountains. In the outdoor cafe, guests can sip hot chocolate, greet a life-size ice sculpture of Max Mara’s unofficial mascot Max the Teddy, and take photos in a custom Max Mara ski gondola. A portion of sales at the pop-up will support the Aspen Art Museum.
The museum's present exhibition, curated by artist Urs Fischer, is the first institutional survey of the experimental sculptor’s work in over a decade. Across three floors, Chamberlain’s crushed automobile works are on display alongside miniatures and panoramic photography taken during his extensive travels. After dinner was cleared away, guests were free to roam the space, taking in the breadth of Chamberlain’s oeuvre—a fitting end to an evening celebrating creativity, warmth, and exploration.
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