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 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 when he moved to Milan to attend courses of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts under the pseudonym "Formis". The works on Eastern subjects that he painted on his return from repeated travels in the Near East were highly esteemed. These were joined in the 1870s by landscapes set in the Lombard countryside and the area around Lake Maggiore, which made Formis a respected figure in the