Taking the neighborhood between Le Chateau and RW&Co up a notch, WEEKEND Max Mara opened its doors this morning at Chinook Centre —just in time for the weekend.Vancouver has three of ’em, but this is the first WEEKEND Max Mara in Calgary. Invited guests were treated to an informal fashion show to get a grip on the brand’s style MO.Bright colors and florals borrowed from the 80’s are cycling into resurgence.The black and white stripe story is back, just like it is every spring. But Max Mara, which makes its own fabrics and runs its own factories, gives it a high-end twist. In business journalism I believe they call that an industry vertical. But we don’t need to worry our pretty little heads about that…… especially when the stripes are horizontal.Catherine Guadagnuolo, founder of the Vestis Fashion Group which licensed the store in Western Canada, shows off a cashmere wrap coat. Coats are the core of the Max Mara brand and have been worn by multiple princesses, both real and of the tabloid variety. However, Kate Windsor and Kim Kardashian weren’t in attendance today.She also assured me that the parkas and scarves on display weren’t shipped in especially for Calgary’s psycho summer weather. Those stylish Italians just wear scarves all year long.No unique design details for Cowtown in the 1660 square foot space. In the interest of brand cohesiveness, all decor was brought in from Italy. Presumably, so were these super cool mannequins. This is only our first taste of Max Mara. Their luxury store is slated to open at Chinook in November of next year. Welcome to Calgary!