For Spring/Summer 2026, the Weekend Max Mara capsule collection brought together five artists to reinterpret the signature Canasta trench coat

The Weekend Max Mara capsule collection brings new life to the Canasta trench coat in a truly artistic way. By providing the Canasta trench coat as a canvas, artists Victoria Kosheleva, Paola Pivi, Tschabalala Self, Tai Shani, and Shafei Xia each created an “artist’s trench”.

This select group of artists were chosen by Francesco Bonami, an art critic, curator, and writer. He cited “distinction, a unique visual language, and generational balance” as key factors as his selection criteria.

“The goal was to offer, through an iconic garment, the opportunity for individual and personal expression, which is fundamental to any aspect of fashion that seeks to provide a unique perspective to its audience,” says Bonami, the artistic director of BYArtmatters in Hangzhou and a member of the Gagosian Gallery board. Previously, he was also the director of the Venice Biennale and the curator of the Whitney Biennial of American Art.

The campaign is shot by Petra Collins, an artist and director whose photography defined the stylistic tone for much of the 2010s and 2020s. In the A Weekend with an Artist imagery, she shows off the wearable art through self-portraiture. In this shoot, Collins wears the exclusive five trench coats. The setting resembles a warehouse stacked with artworks to represent the artistic collaboration.

Each of these artistically driven statement pieces are wearable art in their own right. Here are the stories behind each artist and their inspirations for this collaboration:

Victoria Kosheleva

Victoria Kosheleva’s brand of “cyber expressionism” is derived from combining contemporary and classical imagery. She worked directly on a prototype, painting various motifs that Weekend Max Mara later reproduced as a print. Her inspiration came from her the theatre, with the trickster in particular being a recurring figure in her creative output. For Kosheleva, a trench coat works like a curtain or a stage costume where all the elements coexist harmoniously. “It’s a mood, a state, a gesture. It’s like carrying a piece of theater, of a dream, of unanswered questions with you. The coat isn’t simply decorative,” says Kosheleva.

Paola Pivi

Italian artist Paola Pivi currently resides in Hawaii, which has inspired her take. Taking cues from its flora, fauna, and rainbows, Pivi has created a coat with all the colours of its natural wonders. The vertical multi-colored stripes that cascade down the front and back of the trench coat. They are not just eye-catching but also flattering, as they create an hourglass illusion that narrows at the waist.

Tschabalala Self

Harlem-born Tschabalala Self is best known for her paintings, prints, sculptures, and installations that explore personhood and the cultural significance of signs and symbols. For her Weekend Max Mara trench, she was inspired by the ancient dyeing technique of batik. The result is a lacquered pastel yellow coat, embellished with her pink Infinity Flowers. The Infinity Flower serves as a reminder that transformation lies within our roots, that we are capable of blooming year after year.

Tai Shani

Tai Shani’s work encompasses performance, film, photography, and installations, primarily utilizing experimental writing. Her glossy black vinyl coat serves as a play on the trench as a sartorial symbol of clandestinity, paired with hand-illustrated images of adorable cats, a cute wink at 1950s pinups. Through it, she seeks to reclaim feminized aesthetic modes through a lens of utopian militancy.

Shafei Xia

Shafei Xia combines 19th-century Japanese shunga and Chinese erotic paintings, along with the cultured narcissism of Luigi Ontani. For the coat, she utilised her signature technique of painting watercolours on sandalwood paper. Xia created an image of a woman merging into a white tiger, festooned with floral details that spread across the trench’s back from collar to hem. It represents the co-existence of two opposing forces. Meanwhile, joy emerges quietly from crimson flowers while life burns between love and destruction.

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