Maximilian is a New York outerwear house that says it has been a luxury destination since 1970. A profile of the company traces its roots further back, to 1922 in Warsaw, where siblings Maximilian Apfelbaum and Anna Maximilian Potok, both third-generation furriers, started the business. The family later moved to America and opened a couture fur shop at 5th Avenue and 57th Street in New York. Two Coty awards, in 1948 and 1965, recognized the house for making fur fashionable. That history of cold-weather craft is the reason I find this edit so interesting. The first group is mostly shearling: the Double Breasted Shearling Jacket, the Reversible Shearling Jacket, the Shearling Jacket with Stand Collar and the Hooded Shearling Coat, with the Long Shearling Coat and the Belted Shearling Coat for longer lines. The Belted Leather Coat with Shearling Collar and the Leather Belted Trench Coat bring in leather, and the Lambswool Midi Peacoat, the Wool Jacket and the Belted Wool Coat with Rhinestone Button are for people who prefer wool. The Animal Print Shearling Coat and the Mongolian Lamb Jacket are the louder ones, and the Feather Bolero Jacket is a surprise. For more on the material, a note on shearling warmth and a peacoat roundup are good companions.

This is the larger group, and it shows how many ways the house can work a single idea. There are Toscana lamb jackets, a Nappa finish shearling jacket and reversible styles such as the Reversible Nappa Shearling Coat and the Reversible to Leather Shearling Jacket with Snap Closures, which is two coats in one. The Leather Moto Jacket with Detachable Shearling Collar and the Shearling Moto Jacket are sharper in shape, and the Croc Stamped Leather Trench is the most dressy. For wool, the Woolblend Walking Coat, the Reversible Check Woolblend Coat and the Lambswool Peacoat sit with the leather and shearling. What I would skip is wearing the Shearling Lamb Wrap Coat with a bulky scarf, because the wrap collar already does that work. A quick test for any long coat here: sit down in it in front of a mirror and see if it pulls across the knees. For wool shapes beyond the house, a guide to wool coats adds more cuts, and a cropped leather biker jacket shows the shorter silhouette.

The last group is small and is the layering part. The Reversible Shearling Lamb Vest and the Feather Vest add warmth without sleeves, which makes them easy to wear over a knit and under a longer coat when the temperature drops. The Croc Embossed Leather Jacket with Shearling Lamb Cuff Trim and the Hooded Shearling Coat with Knit Trim carry the details at the cuff and hood. Picture her on a Saturday in November in the Hooded Shearling Coat with Knit Trim, walking out of a gallery on a cold street with her hands in the pockets. If a coat is too much for the day, a puffer vest is the lighter layer to remember, and the shearling vest above is the richer version.

I would choose one long shearling coat for the coldest weeks, one leather coat for the transition and one wool piece for everything in between. Maximilian also offers expert fur care and restyling, which suggests the pieces are meant to last. A coat like this is the kind of thing you wear for many winters, so I would choose the shape you will still reach for in a decade and let the details be a bonus.

For more in the same spirit, take a look at Apparis Coats and Outerwear and Martin Grant Tailoring and Coats.