KITON’S STORY
Our story is unbreakably interwoven with an obsession with quality, style, and Neapolitan sartorial tradition.
Kitonism
Immerse yourself in the pursuit of perfection
Ciro Paone
- KITON’S MISSION
- KITON’S STORY
- FAMILY
- PHILOSOPHY AND VALUES
- RESPONSIBILITY
Beauty is like elegance: it cannot be explained, it cannot be taught, it cannot be imitated. You have to feel it.
The chiton, the ceremonial garment worn during prayers to the Olympian gods, is a symbol of Greek culture. In the apparent simplicity of a white cloth, expertly stitched with a single seam, lies the attention to detail that makes its appeal timeless. Only those who can perceive it understand its deeper meaning. And it is precisely to this tradition that we sought to pay homage with our name: Kiton.”
KITON’S MISSION
We create garments that are unique in the world, transcending perfection to inspire individuals to make an obsession with quality, detail, and excellence their way of life.
Kiton was founded in 1968 to create handcrafted clothing and convey a deep love for dressing well.
In Arzano, a small town on the outskirts of Naples, Ciro Paone began producing 50 garments a day in a small workshop. Within just 20 years, this workshop had grown into an 36,000-square-foot factory. Success was immediate: Kiton offered not only men’s jackets, but also shirts and ties, and the company had already grown to employ 150 people. Signs of this growth included the showroom in Milan, a city symbolic of a market that was increasingly focused on the brand, in addition to the maison’s U.S. headquarters in New York, providing a vantage point for capturing the evolution of style and taste worldwide.
Expansion was unstoppable in the 2000s, beginning with a forward-looking project: the School of Haute Couture.
The idea is to train future generations of tailors, preserving the Neapolitan tailoring tradition and passing the love for timeless elegance on to young people. Alongside the project, Kiton made acquisitions that enriched its wealth of expertise: a historic company in Parma specializing in outerwear, a knitwear factory in Fidenza, and a woolen mill in Biella. Building on its renewed expertise, Kiton opened its Beijing Head Office in 2007. Eight years later, the brand expanded further with new boutiques in Hong Kong, Moscow, San Francisco, and Paris, as well as the new Palazzo in Milan at 21 Via Pontaccio, the former home of Gianfranco Ferrè’s maison.
The future of Kiton is focused on continuing its tradition of sartorial excellence while embracing innovation and experimentation.
In 2021, the second generation of the family embraced Ciro Paone’s moral and entrepreneurial legacy, relaunching Kiton’s values with a focus on technological innovation and sartorial experimentation.
FAMILY
We pass on the love of beauty from generation to generation.
How has the highest sartorial quality been maintained over the years?
By perfecting each step in the production process day after day, and the vast knowledge accumulated over time through craftsmanship. Ciro Paone was aware of this. That’s why he has always shared his love of beauty and meticulous attention to detail, not just with his children, grandchildren, and relatives, but with all the company’s employees as well. So that each person, like in a large family, can become a custodian of the knowledge behind creating a garment, contributing to its improvement through their own work, and then passing it down to future generations.
PHILOSOPHY AND VALUES
Needle, thread, and scissors: let’s craft a new future for Kiton using the same timeless tools.
We have always followed one philosophy: the relentless pursuit of quality, striving to go beyond even the best of the best.
Since time immemorial, the hands of our tailors have brought to life exclusive and one-of-a-kind garments. The same artisanal obsession with perfection and the same expert tailoring drive all our initiatives, inspiring us to ensure the highest quality in every detail, every creation, and every experience in the Kiton world. With one goal: to go beyond even the best of the best.
Passion is the thread that unites all our values.
The art of savoir-faire
It is the art of the handmade. The craftsmanship our tailors employ to create haute couture garments using only a needle, thread, and scissors. It is an art driven by the relentless pursuit of perfection, embodied by the motto “The best of the best +1” and a deep love for beauty.
Family
We have inherited a remarkable legacy from Ciro Paone: grace, good manners, and the responsibility to pass on the sacred fire of passion and craftsmanship to future generations, while ensuring that all our tailors and those who work with us feel at home.
From Naples to the world
Kiton could only have been born in Naples: the city of the Confraternity of Tailors, the birthplace of elegant culture, and the cradle of an ancient tailoring tradition. It is a tradition that we renew every day, exporting to the world—from New York to Beijing—the creative flair that sets us apart.
Hospitality
It is part of our DNA. It reflects our authentic and genuine character and forms the backbone of a work ethic rooted in universal empathy. It inspires us to focus on the future of the Kiton family, preserving its spirit by training new talent at the School of Haute Couture.
RESPONSIBILITY
Together with everyone in the Kiton family, we create the best work environment.
The social fabric in which we work is built on culture, skill, and genuine passion. And this is Kiton’s most valuable fabric.
Kiton is deeply connected to its community and local workers, as demonstrated by our commitment to the area through the School of Haute Couture. Each employee embodies the values of the company and collaborates to enhance everyone’s talent. In our workplaces, both physical and moral integrity are safeguarded, and stimulating, meritocratic conditions are created that respect individual dignity, diversity, and equal opportunity. For Kiton, gender equality is fundamental: we have always supported mothers and women because we believe they are a key driver for the growth of both the company and society.
Kiton is inherently environmentally sustainable: our tailors have always worked with nothing but needle, thread, and scissors.
All of our production is completely handmade, which is why it has a minimal impact on the environment. In fact, the only substance emitted from our workshops is steam from the boilers. We also use only environmentally friendly substances in fabric processing and washing stages. Combining performance, durability, and eco-sustainability, we experiment with new yarns that have a higher degree of biodegradability.
Our commitment is to continually become more environmentally sustainable.
For several years now, we have been renewing the life cycle of our production by extending the life of our garments through our revitalization service and donating unsold items to charity. Since 2021, our packaging has been completely environmentally friendly, with the elimination of PVC. Additionally, our packaging, plastics, hangers, and shopping bag handles are all eco-friendly. Finally, we have installed solar power systems at our company, which will help us reduce CO2 emissions by 220 tons annually. We have also inaugurated the Environmental Sustainability Division.
