Today’s stage of the Giro d’Italia starts in Santarcangelo di Romagna. It finishes in Reggio Emilia, where MAX MARA, the brainchild of Achille Maramotti and one of the world’s best-known and most popular Made in Italy women’s fashion brands, was born.
The origin of prêt-à-porter
It all began when Achille, born in 1927 in Reggio Emilia and a law graduate, took up textiles, a family passion shared by his mother, Giulia, and passed down by his great-grandmother, Marina Rinaldi. Thanks to his innate entrepreneurial spirit, in 1957, Achille founded a women’s fashion company, introducing American industrial processes into European tailoring culture. It is the start of prêt-à-porter in Italy, which for the first time focuses on mass-produced outerwear through the use of paper patterns and machinery.
Iconic models
In particular, it is the coat with a masculine allure that Achille Maramotti chooses as the iconic garment for the women’s wardrobe. In the ’70s and ’80s, international designers collaborated on his project, resulting in models capable of marking an era. These include Manuela, a revolutionary camel-coloured coat with a belt at the waist and the double-breasted, masculine-cut model 101801, which soon became a must–have in the world’s women’s wardrobe.
The brand name MAX MARA is derived from the combination of the superlative ‘MAX’ and the first half of the founder’s surname, Maramotti.
A giant in fashion
Oggi MAX MARA FASHION GROUP S.r.l. vede ancora la famiglia Maramotti al timone con Luigi, Ignazio e Ludovica Maramotti. L’azienda è il gigante della moda Made in Italy e, con sede nell’avveniristico Campus di Via Giulia Maramotti a Reggio Emilia, vende oggi in centinaia di paesi, conta migliaia di dipendenti e fattura oltre un miliardo di euro.
Congratulations to those who bring Made in Italy to wardrobes around the world!