What Alviero Martini 1a Classe is known for

Italian leather goods brand launched in 1991 by designer Alviero Martini, built around his geo map print inspired by an antique map he found in a Moscow bookshop in the mid-1980s; flagship stores in Milan and Rome.

Alviero Martini 1a Classe was founded in 1991 by Italian designer Alviero Martini, born in 1950. The brand's signature - a print reproducing the look of an antique world map - traces to an object Martini found while working in Moscow around 1986-87: an old map he bought in a bookstore there and brought back to Rome. That geo map print became the house's identifying design language and the basis for its 'Geo Collection' of bags and travel goods. The company describes itself as an Italian leather-accessories house built specifically around that map motif, with two flagship stores in Milan and Rome.