Staging a cruise show at the Royal Palace of Caserta could suggest ballgowns and crinolines, but the lineup designed by creative director Ian Griffiths for Max Mara was as far from that as could be. 

Think more Silvana Mangano in the 1949 movie “Riso Amaro,” her shorts rolled up to make her way through the flooded rice fields, or Sophia Loren in the 1963 Vittorio de Sica film “Ieri, oggi, domani [‘yesterday, today, tomorrow’]” with Marcello Mastroianni — the iconic actress smoldering in black lingerie on the movie’s billboard.

Indeed, the collection was a touch sexier this season, and aimed at the type of free-spirited woman who boldly dons shorts under a cropped top and thigh-high leather boots.

“I think Italian style, which has captured everyone’s imagination, was made known globally by film as much as anything else,” Griffiths said ahead of the show, held Tuesday evening.

He argued that actresses such as Mangano and Loren have been inspirational globally, contributing to building Italian style at a time when fashion designers had still not emerged, as they did later. “I think we’re still living with that legacy today.”

Fast forward several decades and a group of modern stars attended the show, ranging from Sharon Stone and Gwyneth Paltrow to Joey King, who last year received the Women in Film’s Max Mara Face of the Future Award, and Zhu Zhu.

Caserta is positioned around 20 miles north of Naples, and the Royal Palace, the largest complex built in Europe during the 18th century and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, was erected by the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. Naples was key for Griffiths as he developed the cruise collection.

“We looked to the most extreme Italian city, the city that has the most Italianness, because this collection is very much about Italianness, if you want to call it that. And in Naples, you find it in huge quantities, this spirit and verve,” said the designer during a preview in the city.

“Everyone knows the story of Naples during and after the war. And if you read ‘Naples ‘44’ [by Norman Lewis on the aftermath of World War II], he describes his horror initially at the conditions in which Neapolitans were living, but ends the book in huge admiration of their courage and their determination and their spirit. And it’s this idea of the indomitable Italian spirit that I wanted to commemorate with this collection.”

Asked if he was pursuing a romantic idea of Naples, he admitted “in fashion we deal in romantic ideas. I’ve been having all sorts of conversations with students about whether or not it’s appropriate for fashion to depict painful or truthful, difficult moments from the past, whether that’s tasteful and or should be left to artists to deal with, and about the difference between fashion and art.

“Art is about truth and fashion is about fantasy. I think necessarily because of the nature of fashion, we deal with idealized versions of what we imagine could be the truth and there’s nothing wrong with that. The currency of fashion is this beautified version of Naples, a fantasy of Naples,” he said, adding that it is a city he loves to visit on a regular basis.

Why not show in Naples then? The designer chose Caserta “simply because it was the most impressive place we saw. We saw so many beautiful corners of Naples, any of which would have made a great location for a show. But we wanted to show in the biggest and best and there’s something about the Royal Palace, which, despite its huge size, is relatively unknown, especially to foreigners. They don’t make it that far, so we wanted to expose it.”

At the same time, the striking stuccoed and frescoed Baroque edifice and its grandeur contributed to the contrast with the contemporary woman inspired by Mangano, “dressed to engage with her everyday life,” in alignment with the brand’s ethos. Founder Achille Maramotti famously said he wanted to dress the “wives of the local doctors and lawyers” because he knew they were the ones who would lead global change.

“We started with the 1951 Ruth Orkin photo ‘American Girl in Italy’ of a proud and insouciant woman walking unaccompanied on the street, which was then regarded as something worthy of comment,” said Griffiths, showing his mood board.

The choice of the image was “a way of saying how far we have come in 75 years, as 1951 was also the date Max Mara was founded, hoping now you feel able to cross the road to get to the restaurant without being hassled,” he said with a smile.

While feminine and sensuous, there was also a definite menswear influence in the collection — starting from the demure loafers worn by the models. “You can’t look at Naples without looking at the Neapolitan dandy and Marinella is the most perfect example of that.”

Max Mara collaborated with the famed Naples-based tie-maker E. Marinella, creating a series of silk pajama suits embellished by that brand’s signature motifs. Griffiths chose Marinella prints designed in 1951 that temper with a bit of menswear “the more voluptuous femininity than usual in this collection.” The patterns appeared on fringed miniskirts or flowing long blouses as well as below-the-knee trapeze skirts that had a whiff of the ‘50s.

The Marinella motifs were revisited and supersized as embroidered and sparkling and sequined patterns on cashmere sweaters and cardigans or sleek white blouses. “This is a product that goes into the stores in November, so it’s the kind of thing that you buy when it’s miserable and the holiday season is coming up,” Griffiths said.

Candy striped shirts in pink and blue with crisp white collars and cuffs were worn under feather-light and deconstructed jackets working with Neapolitan tailor Vincenzo Cuomo. “It’s so hot down here, the tailors have learned how to take out everything but the essential,” the designer said.

Coats are iconic at Max Mara and this season they did not disappoint — belted, shawl collared or fringed. The signature teddy coat was shown in a delightful candy pink hue or cropped as a vest.

Full-circle skirts were worn under matching strapless bras and capelets. There were a few prints reproducing the rich decorations of the palace on silk shorts or blouses, in a subtle and neutral color palette.

For evening, Griffiths paraded strapless gowns dripping with crystals — after all, he believes “it’s an effective way of finishing a show, it never loses its sparkle,” he said shrugging. True, and it was even more powerful in the context of the beautiful location, under the huge vaults of the arcade where the show was held, the well-tended gardens and magnificent fountains and statues in the background.

Griffiths stands by the concept of presenting the Max Mara customer with garments that have “a strong element of newness, even sexier than what she would normally wear, but thought for her in a way which is going to make her feel totally confident about wearing it.”

Speaking of the “bond of trust” the brand has with its customers, “we would be making a huge mistake if we sold something to that woman and she put it on and felt ridiculous. So that’s a huge responsibility.”

No need to worry. This collection was perfectly in sync with what Max Mara stands for — sophistication, luxurious materials, high quality, understated glamor and that touch of Italianness Griffiths embraces with brio.