🇮🇹 Arona · Lake Maggiore · Italy
Join me in Arona for an exclusive retreat where you will sew your own timeless Max Mara inspired coat — the iconic wrap coat model — in double faced wool, using a special couture seam finishing technique that makes this coat as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.
This coat is a timeless classic — a structured wrap coat with clean lines, a perfect shoulder, and an ease of wear that only the finest construction can achieve. The kind of coat you reach for every single autumn, for the rest of your life.
During this retreat you will sew this coat entirely yourself — from the first cut to the final press — guided by Maaike and using the same couture construction principles that make a handmade coat last decades.
Double faced wool is one of the most extraordinary fabrics in tailoring — two layers of fine wool bonded together, with no lining needed. The inside of the coat is as beautiful as the outside.
The secret lies entirely in the seam finishing. A special couture technique — rarely taught, almost never found in pattern instructions — that opens each seam by hand, separates the two layers, and folds them back to create a clean, invisible finish. No raw edges. No lining. Pure craft.
You bring your own double faced wool to the retreat, or order it in advance. In time you will receive more information about the right fabric specifications and recommendations on where to buy it.
First instalment due at booking · Second in month 2 · Third in month 3
This retreat is intended for sewists with an intermediate to advanced level of experience. You do not need experience with double faced wool — that is exactly what this retreat teaches.
During the retreat we focus entirely on the double faced wool technique — not on basic garment construction.
With over 30 years of experience as a couture dressmaker, working alongside renowned designers, in the theatre with prima ballerina Igone de Jongh and the United Ukrainian Ballet, and for private clients including Dutch Queen Máxima, Maaike brings a wealth of expertise and passion to everything she teaches.
She lives in northern Italy, a short train ride from Milan, in a palazzo on Lake Maggiore. Every year she also travels to Japan. Her retreats sell out months in advance.
Maaike's philosophy is simple: if she loves it, she brings it to her students — ensuring they receive the finest education in couture and craftsmanship. Are you ready to join her?
Book the retreat