Q&A: Nicola Maramotti: Taking it to the Max

Max Mara’s Nicola Maramotti Looks to Hollywood for Style Inspiration

Nicola Maramotti is the first to admit that she’s always been inspired by Hollywood. Even as a little girl, Max Mara’s Global Brand Ambassador looked to icons like Audrey Hepburn and Claudia Cardinale for fashion inspiration. These days, she looks to modern fashion icons like Jennifer Garner, Max Mara’s first-ever celebrity ambassador. The German-born beauty also makes it her business to award young actresses for their inspiring personal style. Each year, her luxury Italian fashion house partners with Women in Film to honor one such up-and-coming ingénue with a “Face of the Future” accolade; this year’s recipient was Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld. Here, this purveyor of haute couture shares her passion for film, discusses her personal style and remembers a picture-perfect Hollywood moment with Katie Holmes.

Have you always loved film?
Yes, I have. I had a real passion for Walt Disney films when I was little, and still have it! I watch them all the time with my children, and when I have the chance to see musicals in New York, I see The Lion King; it makes me cry every time.

What’s your first memory of film?
My first memory was the first time I went to a movie with a boy; the film was Once Upon a Time in the West with Claudia Cardinale, and it still inspires me today. Another favorite classic of mine is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. There is so much beauty in these films, such a chic and elegant way of living.

What is your go-to outfit?
I really wear almost a piece a day of Max Mara because I love to change things up, and luckily I have the chance to do it. I just dress like I feel. I’ll wear an evening dress during the daytime because I feel like it. I dress up, I dress down, I put accessories on and change my look all the time. I don’t have one piece in the world that I would always wear, because I just love to change and play with fashion.

Who is a woman you admire, and what would you dress her in?
I admire women who are really fighting in a man’s world, so I would go to politics in my own country and say Angela Merkel. She is the toughest woman of the moment, like a modern-day Margaret Thatcher. I really admire her for what she’s doing; she has such a clear vision of how Europe should be. Men are following her and everybody is listening to her. I think she’s tough, powerful and she wants power. I think she could look good in Max Mara, but on the other hand, she’s very, very classical and doesn’t care about fashion. For me, it’s fine that she wears what she wears because fashion isn’t the main point she’s making.

What do you enjoy doing the most when you’re in LA?
When I’m here I try to go to all of the museums. I’ve been to the Hammer Museum as well as LACMA. I also get to see quite a few private houses, houses of producers or actors. It’s nice, because I get to see a bit of their world. Katie Holmes invited me to her home a few years ago when I was here with my two daughters, and we had a picnic in her garden with Suri. Very few of us were invited, her parents were there and it was wonderful. She was very generous.

What is your motto for life?
Be positive. I know that my life is good, and that even when I have problems, these problems are nothing in the grand scheme of things.