Heritage
Research
From 1951 to today
Over the years Max Mara has grown from being a small business to an important international Group with showrooms and flagship stores worldwide; each decade has been marked by important steps and a progressive expansion in the production, number of lines and points of sale, both national and international.
Max Mara was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti bearing the name "Maramotti Confezioni": after a few years the name was changed into the present one and the company moved from its original headquarters in Piazza San Lorenzo to Via 4 Novembre, near the railway station, increasing its staff to 200 employees.
The enthusiasm and success were evident and stimulated Max Mara to organise its first fashion shows in Cortina d'Ampezzo and to present its products in the windows of important Italian stores such as "Il Duca d'Aosta" in Venice.
At the same time the headquarters were transferred and leading figures such as Luciano Soprani, Lison Bonfis, Graziella Fontana and Emanuelle Khanh started to collaborate - in different ways - to the development of the collection and of the new lines "Pop" and "My Fair".
In the same years the first single-brand store was opened in Italy and the company "Maxima" was established (responsible for the development and management of flagship stores); new lines were also created such as "Marella" (followed shortly after by the collections Tricot, Sport, Lineaemme and Accessori) "iBlues" and "Sportmax", thanks to the important stimulus provided by Laura Lusuardi, who today is fashion coordinator of all the lines and manager of the Max Mara collection.
In the middle of the Seventies, Max Mara had become an important national company with more than 400 employees, a production of 35,000 coats per year and significant collaborations with Anne Marie Beretta, Nanni Strada, Guy Paulin, Jacques Delahaye and Jean Charles de Castelbajac.
The industrial plan continued to be successful in the following years to the point that the new brand "Pennyblack" was founded in 1977 under the management of the daughter Maria Ludovica Maramotti, already involved in the development of the parallel company "Manifatture Del Nord".
The European press featured Max Mara's collections and history prominently also thanks to the attention paid to the positioning of its style image: Erberto Carboni, Sarah Moon, Manfredi Bellati, Mike Yavel and Hans Faurer, just to name a few of the artists who collaborated with the company in that period.
The '80s were marked by further development and differentiation: on the one hand new lines were created, "Persona", "Max&Co.", "Blues Club", "Weekend", "Pianoforte" and "Marina Rinaldi" (followed shortly after by the collections "Basic", "Sport", "Elegante" and "Maglieria"), and, on the other hand, Max Mara counted 1,500 employees and was identified as a representative Group of Made in Italy fashion.
The Eighties were marked by great creative, intellectual and artistic ferment and in fact in those years one of the symbols of the Maison was created: the wool and cashmere blend double-breasted "101801" coat with kimono sleeves conceived by Anne Marie Beretta, an absolute best seller still proposed without any modification in every winter collection.
At the same time the founder Achille Maramotti was appointed Knight of Labour and his sons Luigi and Ignazio started working for the company, Max Mara presented for the first time its collection in Milan during the fashion week: proof of the Maison's great success and the house organ "MM Magazine" was launched.
In the Nineties the Group consolidated its position and called famous photographers to take its photos such as Peter Lindbergh, Arthur Elgord and Richard Avedon, extending the style project with the brands "Sportmax Code", "Occhiali Max Mara" and "'S Max Mara".
The new millennium celebrated the first 50 years of activity of the company and the anniversary coat "101951", was produced in limited edition (1951pieces); perfume lines were also launched in this period as well as the brand "Max Mara Hosiery".
In recent years Collections continued to develop and two important cultural projects have come to life: the itinerant exhibition "Coats!" (a fascinating journey through the history of Italian fashion following the history of coats, Max Mara's icon garment) and the opening to the public of the Maramotti Collection, with over two hundred works of art by around one hundred international artists from 1950 up to today, including Vito Acconci, Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alberto Burri, Francesco Clemente, Tony Cragg, Tano Festa, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, Luigi Ontani, Mimmo Paladino, Tom Sachs, Mario Schifano, Julian Schnabel and Bill Viola.
Today Max Mara Group is one of the most important groups worldwide, with 23 brands, more than 2,000 boutiques in 105 countries and more than 4,500 employees in the different premises including the new Campus in Via Giulia Maramotti, designed by the architects John McAslan & Partners.