Max Mara

The 101801 is to Max Mara what the 2.55 is to Chanel: a signature object that has been worn by the world’s chicest women (including Isabella Rossellini, Cate Blanchett, and HRH Sofia, the Queen of Spain). Designed by Anne-Marie Beretta for the company in 1981, the 101801, a kimono-sleeved camel coat, was an instant classic. Favored early on by the likes of the Swedish screen star Ingrid Bergman, nothing about this simply elegant wardrobe staple is flashy. And the same could be said of the Max Mara company itself.

Having spun off more than 30 labels over the years, Max Mara has slowly but surely grown—since its founding as Confezioni Maramotti in 1951—into a billion-dollar-a-year concern. The house was started by Achille Maramotti, an architect of the postwar ready-to-wear movement in Italy, with just two looks: a camel coat and a red suit. Legend explains the brand name this way: The “Mara” comes from Maramotti and the “Max” from a fun-loving local roué in the town of Reggio Emilia—still the firm’s headquarters—who cut quite a drunken dash and styled himself Count Max.

Before Maramotti and his ilk, trends were dictated by Paris, and most women had their clothes sewn up by their local dressmaker. His particular genius was to link high fashion (then equated with French flair) with industrial methods of production. The gimmick-free clothing he offered helped women reach for sartorial stars at an attainable price.

Women’s ready-to-wear remains the heart and soul of Max Mara—not the perfume or cosmetics or home decor lines that fill other companies’ coffers. “The product is our lighthouse, our DNA,” the president, Luigi Maramotti (the eldest son of the founder), told Women’s Wear Daily in 2009.