On paper it's boring. Everything changes when it comes down, put both arms by the sleeves, is placed on the shoulders and begins to walk with him. Then, the garment takes off
Max Mara's coat 101801, his emblematic piece, was conceived to be dressed, not kept or told and not even look, even if an exhibition has been dedicated to him and although we are writing these lines. Exactly like the rest of the clothing of this firm of Reggio Emilia, a small town near Milan that preserves the essence of Northern Italy. In that zone the clothes must show authority, although this is not enough to turn a garment into a totem. The X factor is missing. Let's find it.
Max Mara, was founded by Achille Maramotti in 1951. This man knew after the Second World War something that many ignored: the potential of the middle class, which then existed and was a powerful social force. He decided to make clothes for the women of the doctors, academics and living forces of the northern society. Over time, women stopped being consorts and they were the doctors, academics and living forces and bought their own clothes. Maramotti chose, to put it easy, for the ready-to-wear compared to the custom-made clothes. He did it the way things are done in those lands: with good raw materials, a serious industrial fabric and the desire to stay. Thus, she managed to carve out an important space in the wardrobe of women who worked and who wanted stylish and quality clothes to trust. So far we see an interesting story, but we still do not see that factor X. Patience: it's about to arrive.
The coats soon became the pillar of the brand. They were clothes that did not go out of style and that they sheltered; In a cold land this was important. They were not only functional: a coat was a declaration of intentions, something that was easily distinguished by the street. Mr. Achille united French designs (the touch of fashion) to Italian sewing techniques. Max Mara moved with ease designing coats until in 1981 Anne-Marie Beretta, designed for the brand 101801.
At first I did not have the look (or the will) to go down in history. It seemed another good coat, but Beretta had designed a unique garment. Attention: here the myth begins to take shape. It was, it is, a coat made in a mixture of cashmere and camel wool with double buttons, lapels and belt. It has several peculiarities: the most evident are the kimono sleeves and an oversize pattern, something slightly eighties. In addition, the coat hides a trick: measures 1.20, a measure chosen to sit well with women of all heights. There is still more: if we get closer we will see the 'puntino', a seam that borders the coat, as well as ivory buttons sewn with elastic thread. In its lining it has sewn a label with the history of the coat. This garment hides more than it counts. Although it seems conservative this coat is a rogue.
The 101801 had no inspiration behind, just a pattern. No one said at Max Mara's headquarters: "let's create an icon". What happened for this so cerebral garment to enter the books of History of Fashion? Something interesting: began to sell a lot. It is one of those rare examples in the industry where commercial success builds the totem. It was not a Hollywood star nor an emotional story linked to a member of the Maramotti family. People threw it. That, and an astute design, is its X factor.
Today, almost 40 years later, when someone says "Max Mara's coat" everyone knows that it refers to this garment. There are other important models, such as the Manuela, with a belt, or the Rialto with a hood. However, it is this, which does not seem the easiest, the most coveted. It has been interpreted by artists such as Thais Caballero, Miwa Yanagi or François Bethoud; nor William Wegman could resist to wear a Weimar Braco with the coat. All of them (and the coats) are the protagonists of the exhibition Coats!, which was set up in 2001 to mark the 60th anniversary of the brand and, since then, it has been traveling all over the world. This November, its new edition opens in Seoul.
The coat 101801 has remained unchanged since 1981. It continues demanding 240 cms of fabric, 73 operations and 168 minutes of work. In 2016, as an exception and for the first time, a limited edition was designed with some variants, minimal, on the original model. The brand has worked hard to separate it from the idea of a classic coat for European ladies and to unite it to young women of various ages. It is an intergenerational and universal garment. It continues to be sold in the Max Mara boutiques around the world. They have taken him from Sofia Coppola to Cate Blanchett through Cindy Lauper, (whose music was a hit when this garment was designed) or his neighbor. All of them one day they picked it up from a hanger and put it on because they were cold or wanted to feel embraced by the wool. They, along with many thousands of other women, did not know they were contributing to the myth.
