The Rake's article on Kiton

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

Read this off of Permanent Style (see here)

Article summary

Kiton's business model is unique. Nothing is outsourced, everything is kept in the family. CEO Antonio Matteis explains how he is holding onto that philosophy as Kiton enters its third generation

I liked this part

It's hard to know where to stop with the facts. But I'm not worried - I know Antonio would approve of the geeky detail. Back in Milan, it turns out the Kiton CEO has strong opinions on menswear journalism and what it should be doing. "Magazines can't just carry on saying this brand is good, and this brand is good, and this brand is good," he says, gesticulating at the jackets hanging on the walls of the Kiton showroom. "They need to explain the difference to men by going into the real detail. We need to give power back to the consumer."

Understanding the story of the brand is part of this, as is the location, method and consistency of production. "But it's also important to bring people close to the product," he argues. "You need to get into the details. The reader should be able to almost see the product, see how it feels. That way you know the journalist is not talking rubbish. That is the future of your job."

Just wanted to share.

Call me a nerd, but I like knowing about all these details.

gdl203 · Jan 5, 2010

Yes I saw that and understand exactly why he told The Rake this. They obviously are one of the worst offenders of such behavior.

Flieger · Jan 5, 2010

The Truth

jefferyd · Jan 5, 2010

Except this part, which is bull, unless they have made some very major changes lately.

On a jacket, everything is sewn by hand except the central seam in the back

Time to get my hands on one of them and open it up.

voxsartoria · Jan 5, 2010

Originally Posted by jefferyd

Except this part, which is bull, unless they have made some very major changes lately.

Time to get my hands on one of them and open it up.

The legendary thread: Kiton- what is really inside, lots of pics.

- B

jefferyd · Jan 5, 2010

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

The legendary thread: Kiton- what is really inside, lots of pics.

- B

Thanks. You just saved me a few hundred bucks.

Originally Posted by indesertum

"Magazines can't just carry on saying this brand is good, and this brand is good, and this brand is good," he says, gesticulating at the jackets hanging on the walls of the Kiton showroom. "They need to explain the difference to men by going into the real detail. We need to give power back to the consumer."

Um, like printing misleading information about how a garment is made? You would think that they would verify their information before printing it.

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

well kiton claims everything is made by hand, but that thread makes me doubt a lot of things. i mean is it legally ok for kiton to blatantly lie like that? is it that they say some of their garments are machine made? or when they say handmade they mean machine guided with hands? edit: wow i missed out on a lot. the aaac thread is great

edmorel · Jan 5, 2010

not to revive the Kiton dead horse but the Esquire Big Black book (no ****) of 2008 did a Napoli fluff piece and they specifically mentioned the quietness of the Kiton factory due to the fact that no machines were present.

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

**** now i want to tear apart my jacket made in korea.

when i was talking to him he said absolutely everything is made by hand including the canvas. i saw that the canvas had hand stitching (the / \\ stitches) during the first fitting, the felt underlining of the collar is handstitched, as are the button holes, and his shop had a lot of fine examples of manica carmaccia, but now i am curious as to why their prices are so low. especially if kiton cuts corners with machines yet still charges so much.

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

Originally Posted by edmorel

not to revive the Kiton dead horse but the Esquire Big Black book (no ****) of 2008 did a Napoli fluff piece and they specifically mentioned the quietness of the Kiton factory due to the fact that no machines were present.

maybe there's another secret factory? -_-;;

edmorel · Jan 5, 2010

Originally Posted by indesertum

maybe there's another secret factory? -_-;;

don't know and honestly don't care as I don't wear Kiton but there is a lot of forum outrage at Kiton's claims, yet others make similar or worse claims and no one seems to care. At the end of the day, if you like it and it fits well, how it was stitched together should not be that big of a deal. My biggest issue with Kiton or any other garment would be, are the pants stitched well enough at the back seam to avoid a Kancho catastrophy?

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

i think it's more so outrage at kiton exploiting the term handmade. whatever. their stuff still look nice from what i remember. but clearly not as well made as cole haan MTM

Glados1984 · Jan 5, 2010

I dont get why people crack such a massive hard on over hand made gear.

i'd rather have something very well made by machine then poorly made by hand.

anyone who knows anything about cars for instance, knows that 'hand made' is code for 'roll the dice and see what you get'

indesertum · Jan 5, 2010

Originally Posted by Glados1984

I dont get why people crack such a massive hard on over hand made gear.

i'd rather have something very well made by machine then poorly made by hand.

anyone who knows anything about cars for instance, knows that 'hand made' is code for 'roll the dice and see what you get'

watch this video. talks a little about the benefits of handmade.

there are somethings that have a clear advantage being handmade (eg shoulders) but i'm not sure why handmade canvas is better than machine made or why hand pick stitching is better than machine pick stitching.

i think part of it is also knowing that a lot of thought, time, effort, and skill went into making your garment.

my $340 hermes underwear was handstitched by 21 year old persian virgins during their period using hand selected, hand grown, and hand cultivated vietnamese pubic hairs and I think about those women all the time. much better quality than the artisans that made my kiton t-shirt

jefferyd · Jan 5, 2010

Regardless of which is better (hand or machine), they have misled their readers; either Kiton fibbed or the author is mistaken. Either way, in any other industry that would be very poorly regarded, if not downright illegal, and calls The Rake's journalism practices and credibility into question.

The Rake's article on Kiton

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