Max Mara Whitney Bag designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop at Copenhagen Airport

On the occasion of the opening of the new Whitney Museum of American Art in New York on 24 April, Max Mara announces an extraordinary collaboration with the architect behind the new Whitney Museum, the Renzo Piano: the Whitney Bag. The bag is designed jointly by Max Mara and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and the Whitney Bag is an accolade to Italian creativity.

Copenhagen Airport in exclusive group
The Whitney Bag will be sold in Max Mara shops worldwide, but only a select few of them are allowed to exhibit the illustration of the Whitney Museum with one of the exclusive, limited edition bags, which are only available as 250 numbered bags worldwide. Max Mara has bestowed this honour on its Copenhagen Airport shop as the only shop in the Nordic region.

We are extremely honoured to be chosen as one of the few locations in the world where Max Mara's new Whitney Bag is launched, and more so to be allowed to sell a couple of these highly coveted numbered bags. This fits perfectly with our strategy and intentions to create an extraordinary experience for passengers when they go through our shopping centre, and it gives our airport yet another fashion dimension Lise Ryevad, Director, Airport Sales at Copenhagen Airports A/S.

For people dreaming about owning one of the limited edition bags, it is on display in the installation outside the Max Mara shop in Terminal 2 of Copenhagen Airport.

A place where feelings become more intense
Aesthetics and technical skills are the concepts behind the Whitney Bag, which boasts pure design and sophisticated materials inspired directly by the museum which is considered one of the most predominant architectural features of New York with its characteristic entrance area with glass and metal surfaces, steel elements and an impressive design which wraps around the structure like a ribbon.

The Whitney Bag designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop
The Whitney Bag is made in soft, high-quality leather and features an elegant surface with characteristic seams creating fine lines bearing direct resemblance to the exterior architectural structure and steel constructions of the museum. The graphic lines are created by means of traditional leather craftsmanship combined with industrial techniques. Brass plates are used as moulds for strips of leather that combine to make up the pattern on the bag. The façade of the building has inspired the buckles, the inside pocket and the conspicuous snap hook - a signature element of the bag.

All elements have been created with a special galvanised coating reflecting the materials used for the museum. The lining is in a contrast red colour, an unusual element of the bag and a snapshot of a sophisticated and conspicuous use of primary colours that characterises the details of many Renzo Piano Building Workshop projects.

The Whitney Bag will be available in three sizes and three colours: black, bordeaux and tobacco. The bag will also be available in a small limited edition number of exclusive collector's bags: 250 bags with a logo stamp on the inside will be available in an icy blue-grey colour that recalls the steel ribbonlike façade of the museum.

Just as the Whitney Museum fits perfectly into the natural, urban and social landscape of the New York Meatpacking District, the bag is more than a designer's idea of creating an elegant, versatile and yet practical bag. All profits will be donated to the Renzo Piano Foundation to finance the Foundation's educational activities.

Please note! When crediting, you should always refer to the full name: "Max Mara Whitney Bag designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop".

About Max Mara

• The company was founded (in 1951) to offer "haute de gamme" feminine clothing manufactured applying the best industrial processes. The Max Mara Group has consolidated over time, focusing on a timeless and luxurious style that is enjoying growing success worldwide. Today, there are more than 2,300 Max Mara shops worldwide.
• Max Mara's sophisticated designer shops are opening worldwide, not only on the main shopping streets of cities such as Milan, Paris, London, Moscow and Tokyo, but also in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Australia, Brazil and New Caledonia. In China, even, a network of 380 stores has been opened in less than a decade, ranging from Beijing and Shanghai to Qingdao, Shenyang and the historic city Hangzhou.
• The Max Mara Group has elected to operate in 105 countries, both directly and through 10,000 shops that offer Max Mara as part of their range. The company has had international ambitions from the very beginning, starting with the name Max Mara, a striking name that is easy to pronounce in all languages.
• Max Mara has now started expanding its network to include shops in the leading airports of the world. The shop at Copenhagen Airport is the Group's début in this new distribution channel. It offers a razor-sharp and carefully targeted strategy, both with respect to products and visual merchandising.
• Max Mara's airport-shop project comprises six shops opened in 2014 and a target of 50 shops in total within the next five to six years. Most will be concentrated in Europe, Asia and the United States. Already confirmed shop openings are at Copenhagen, Madrid (two Weekend Max Mara shops), Malaga and Munich.
• For additional information, go to maxmara.com

About Renzo Piano Building Workshop

• Renzo Piano Building Workshop is an interactive partnership originating from the creative insight of Geneva-born architect Renzo Piano.
• Established in 1981, the Workshop now has offices in Geneva, Paris and New York and consists of a team of 150 architects plus central support staff.
• The employees of the Workshop share a commitment to technical expertise and an innovative and explorative drive to experiment.
• In their work at Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the staff strive to design unusual and daring solutions achieved through innovative use of technology and respect for local cultures, as well as trust in traditional materials and craftsmanship.
• The Workshop has initiated and completed projects worldwide. Some of the key current projects are: the new Whitney Museum and Colombia University's Manhattan Ville Campus in New York, the Stravos Niarchos cultural centre in Athens, the qualification of the old Falck area in Milan, and the new justice building in Paris, the JNBY headquarters in Hangzhou, China, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.

About the Whitney Museum of American Art

• The Whitney Museum of American Art is the world's leading museum featuring 20th-century and contemporary art in the United States. It was founded by sculptor and art protector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1914 as the Whitney Studio Club, and was founded as a museum in 1930. The Whitney Museum of American Art was initially located on West 8th Street in Greenwich Village.
• In 1954, the museum moved uptown to West 54th Street and later to a building designed by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue at 75th Street, which was to be the site of the museum for the next 50 years from 1966 to 2014.
• On 1 May 2015, the Whitney Museum will move back downtown to open at its new home designed by Renzo Piano, on the corner of Gansevoort and Washington Streets in the Meatpacking district, which borders the southern entry to the High Line.
• The new building, which has generated enormous anticipation and support, will allow the Whitney Museum to expand its series of exhibitions, so that it can show many more works from its famous permanent collection (which now includes almost 22,000 works by more than 3,000 artists) and offer a broader spectrum of exhibitions and artists and welcome many more visitors, as the museum continues to grow and evolve.

For additional information, please contact Communications Adviser Camilla Borggaard, at +45 4018 1912 or camilla.borggaard@ext.cph.dk.