Max Mara Max Mara Max Mara is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2,254 stores in 90 countries. It sponsors the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. Achille Maramotti began designing couture clothing in 1947, and officially established the House of Max Mara in 1951. The "Mara" came from his surname, while "Max" referred to Count Max, a local character who was seldom sober but always stylish. Maramotti was one of the first to see
Achille Formis school of Lombard Naturalism alongside painters like Eugenio Gignous, his friend since the years at the Brera. He took part in the annual Brera exhibitions and the Esposizione Nazionale Artistica of 1887 in Venice, where he returned in 1899 with a view of the countryside around Mantua. He also exhibited work in Berlin (1896) and Munich in 1901 and 1906, the year of his death in Milan. Achille Formis Achille Befani (1832–1906) was an Italian painter, best known as Achille Formis. He was born in Naples and embarked on a singing career there. This was abandoned in the early 1860s