Inside Kiton: The Pride of Naples
Cutting button holes.
A team from Neiman Marcus outposts across the United States convened in Naples, Italy to understand what makes a Kiton suit so extraordinary. The group casually referred to the Kiton campus in Arzano, a suburb of Naples, as “the factory” since it produces all the brand’s tailored clothing, shirts, ties and shoes, but that term evokes machines pumping out maximum quantities of identical goods, and what we witnessed there was the opposite, a complete rejection of automation.
The suit workshop.
Every artisan in Kiton’s workshops performs a highly specialized task — by hand — and carries it out to perfection. There are no production managers inspecting for quality because there is no need, as the artisan is a respected professional and fully, uniquely accountable for his or her own work. Their pride in their skill makes it inconceivable to hand in less-than-exemplary work.
Each artisan — the fabric cutter, the presser, the baster, the button hole cutter, the buttonhole sewer, to name just a few — makes a vital contribution that no machine can replicate to the same standards.
For example, the barchetta, the signature boat-shaped breastpocket, must curl to lie flat on the chest. The tailors utilize the contours of their thighs to get the shape right. And when the pocket is set on the chest, it must align perfectly with the fabric pattern on the body.
Making the barchetta.
In a handmade suit, every stitch can be calculated to give the wearer comfort, flexibility and freedom of movement. And in Neapolitan tailoring — not a monolithic standard, but a style typically associated with Naples — clothing is expected to be relaxed, because in this coastal Mediterranean setting, gentlemen came to favor soft tailoring and lightness. (The dark, strict Mad Men look doesn’t hold much appeal here.)
Neapolitan style embraces the whole spectrum of color. White, too. Above all it values sprezzatura, nonchalance. Sprezzatura means letting things be spontaneous, a little askew, a little loud perhaps. You might wear the finest clothing in the Western world, but if you fuss to make every detail “correct,” you miss the point entirely.
Sprezzatura.
Kiton is the epitome of soft tailoring and sprezzatura. Its iconic shoulder — with gentle ripples flowing from the vertex of the sleeve — optimizes arm freedom without distorting the natural slope of a man’s shoulder. To the uninitiated it can seem oddly unpolished, but to a connoisseur it signals the height of the craft.
Kiton shoulders.
Setting that sleeve in the shoulder is a major feat, and the shoulder itself is astoundingly complicated, comprised of numerous layers and hundreds of stitches binding the layers together.
Constructing the shoulder in layers.
Stitching on a lapel.
Every stitch requires attention and finesse, as the varieties of fabric and each customer’s measurements present a unique challenge. A tailor is empowered to spend as much time as it takes to get the job done right. In all, 25 to 50 hours of handwork go into each Kiton suit.
No other tailoring brand couples this level of craftsmanship with 100 percent exclusive fabrics, which justifies Kiton’s motto, “The best of the best, plus one.”
The Neiman Marcus Made-to-Measure Event is August 18-September 5.
Tomorrow on NMdaily: Facing the Future of Neapolitan Tailoring.
