Liberty & Leith’s History Lessons: Max Mara
Renowned for their classic outerwear and luxurious craftsmanship, get to know the brand behind the icons.
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Liberty & Leith’s History Lessons: Max Mara
Meet the brand and the coat that became icons of modern Italian design.
Be it the time-honed skill of the ceramicist, the olfactive acrobatics of the perfumer or the intricate musings of master tailor: as our 150th anniversary dawns, Liberty has joined forces with celebrated editor and stylist Leith Clark to shine a light on artisanal craftsmanship unbound.
For more than 75 years, there has been only one reliable answer to the time old question: “where can I find the perfect coat?”. Max Mara is renowned for its Italian craftsmanship, exquisitely precise tailoring and truly timeless designs, and is a name steeped in design heritage.
Founded in 1951 by Cavaliere Achille Maramotti, many of the brand’s core foundations have remained unchanged since its inception. With the Maramotti family remaining at the head of the company and its headquarters still based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, heritage is at the core of Max Mara’s ethos. While times, techniques and styles have evolved, the commitment to quality, craftsmanship and excellence is as strong as it was in Max Mara’s earliest days.
Even before Max Mara began, tailoring and dressmaking was in the Maramotti family’s blood. As early as 1850, Cavaliere Achille Maramotti’s great-grandmother, the legendary womenswear designer Marina Rinaldi, had gained renowned for her artisanal Italian creations. Her focus on craft and intricate detailing has been passed down the generations – with Max Mara’s creations still celebrated for their sophisticated design and impeccable craftsmanship.
A commitment to craft is an passion shared between Max Mara and Liberty, with intertwining influences between the two. For Max Mara’s most recent resort collection, designers drew inspiration, in part, from Venetian history, with the city a base for explorers, traders and merchants travailing the silk road with resplendent wares. This rich tapestry of references, from elegant silks to camel and cashmere wool, runs in tandem to Liberty’s own history of travel and discovery that reaches all the way back to founder, Sir Arthur Liberty’s travels to the Far East, India and Japan.
Tobacco-toned palazzo trousers in pure wool, fluid silk separates and nods to Max Mara’s tailoring expertise are peppered throughout the collection with outsize tassels, chunky drawstrings, and extravagant handkerchief cuffs denoting an elegant mood. Alongside, of course, captivating iterations of the brand’s signature coats and jackets: the cropped teddy, fluid blazers and classic camel coats in luxurious wools and cashmeres.
Now known equally for its ready-to-wear collections, the coat remains a staple and a standout for Max Mara. With the first coats launching shortly after the brand itself, the structured, refined silhouettes of their classic camel-coloured offerings have long been a favourite with the world’s most stylish women: Angelina Jolie, Nancy Pelosi, Iman, Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, Lily Collins and Blake Lively are just mere handful of the tastemakers in Max Mara’s thrall. From the Ludmilla to the Teddy and the belted Manuela, the coat that started it all was the Icon coat, the 101801.
For a limited time, see Max Mara’s atelier expertise in Liberty’s famed windows as part of our collaboration with editor and stylist Leith Clark, as she curates our finest brands in celebration of Liberty’s 150th anniversary.
The Making of An Icon
Arguably the most iconic coat in Max Mara’s repertoire, since its launch in 1981, the 101801 has become a signature style for the house. Providing a feminine twist on tailoring codes, the precisely proportioned, carefully cut coat is both contemporary and timeless: a design destined to last for generations.
73 The number of processes used from start to finish in the creation of the coats.
120cm The length of the coat: designed to be flattering for tall and petite alike.
168 minutes Total time taken to craft each coat.
16 minutes cutting time
126 minutes tailoring
12 minutes ironing
8 minutes button application
6 minutes final checks
142,000 the number of 101801 coats created since 1981
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