The M2057 Spring Collection, Inspired by Zaha Hadid

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, the architect Zaha Hadid was the primary source of inspiration for M2057’s Spring 2017 collection. I have had the very good fortune of experiencing three of Zaha’s designs during recent travels, which, in turn, impacted designs for Spring.

The MAXXI Museum in Rome is one of the most intriguing museums I have ever visited, where the architecture is as thought provoking as the art inside. The building takes shape from a series of structures that connect and disconnect at various levels, allowing you not only to lose yourself in the space physically, but mentally, as well.

Dresses like the BIBI and NUMA took shape from exploring how this approach could translate to a garment. The Bibi features a series of pintucked seams and asymmetric cuts that give the dress the appearance of escalating levels as you view it from different perspectives. The Numa, a take on the slip dress, accomplishes this through pattern, showing black and white stripes cutting into each other and creating asymmetrical intersections.

In Milan, the Generali Tower literally spirals up out of the earth; it is modern yet sublimely elegant, and you feel the building’s rootedness. I wanted to capture this impression with a dress like the RINA, whose pintucked seams promote movement and flow from the shoulders to the hem. Pintucked seams and climbing, cutout straps give a similar movement and spiral effect to the AMAL dress.



Finally, the Serpentine Sackler Pavilion in London is this organic shape that becomes a kind of sculpture in the sky. Sitting in the space’s interior, you feel like you are in an otherworldly place. Using M2057’s stretch Liquid fabric gave me the ability to create a top like the IMAN, with an angular, feminine sweep. The VANDA shrug also has a swooping, sculptural edge with pintucked seams that flow from the collar down the sleeve and across the back.



Zaha Hadid’s work seems to grow out of the landscape, extending a fluidity and connection to the earth—hers was a true talent and a tremendous loss, and I miss very much what we might have seen from her in the years to come. I count myself very lucky to have experienced these buildings and their energy in person, and to take inspiration from that energy and the sculpture that she put into the world.

Be well,
Maria