Napoli Crea event in Downtown Boston

[johnnynorman3]

As I posted yesterday, there is an "event" in the lobby of Two International Place in Boston. It is called "Napoli Crea." I just spent about 15 minutes down there. They have one young woman who is the business director of the event, and her job is mainly to sell buyers on the products. She is surprisingly uneducated about high end clothing, but she is very sweet and knows that the clothes in the exhibits are very expensive and lovely. She says she loves to just touch the fabrics and invited me to do the same.

The event is basically seven different stations. Each station is a table and sometimes a mannequin or two, where the products are creatively laid out. Each station is a different company. There is Isaia, Finamore shirts, a young shoe company called Di Cristafano (I think), Marinella (they make watches too, BTW), a luggage company from Naples, some jewelry company, and . . . . . . (drum roll) . . . . . Cesare Attolini. For those who have never seen an Attolini suit, if you are a short walk from the event it is worth checking out just to see one. They have a sportcoat folded on the table with, a cashmere overcoat lied out under the table, and a double breasted heavier worsted chalk stripe suit on a tailor's form. Just to see the armhole pleating is a very lovely experience. The suit looks much softer than I ever expected -- I always though Attolini would be edging towards Brioni in terms of sharpness, but that's not the case.

I was talking with the woman about Attolini for some time and she was surprised I'd even heard of the company. When I told her the suit on the tailor's form probably is about $4000 or more her jaw dropped. Pretty funny.

The other highlight is the Finamore table because not only do they have about four shirts laid out, they also have a fairly sizeable swatch book. No MTM ordering, unfortunately. The swatch book is for potential buyers, I was told. Nevertheless, merely to look through the swatch book is good for those people who are looking at swatches for Chan or Jantzen orders. You can get some ideas of what might look good/creative, etc. I always find that after looking through a well conceived swatch book, I get new ideas for what would look good.

 

[imageWIS]

Oh, Attolini...

Yeah, I'm not surprised that she was surprised, after all how many suits does Attolini make a year? And in how many locations worldwide are they sold? Even in NYC, how many stores sell Attolini?

I've never had the pleasure of inspecting a Finamore shirt up close, how are they? What are they comparable to?

Jon.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Finamore shirts:

Gorgeous fabrics.  They have some conservative swatches, but also some very creative and colorful (without being gaudy) options.  One shirt they had laid out was a spread collar in a light blue broadcloth with a pale pink "bold stripes."  I like it a lot.  

The collar shape reminds me most of Borrelli.  However, the collars are a little softer than Borrelli.  More substantial than Kiton still, though.  I'd be interested in how they sit without a tie, but with a tie they would certainly be elegant and comfortable.  BTW, I didn't see the collar stays, but they felt like real bone or MOP to me (thick and sturdy feel).  

The stitching must have been very good, because I didn't notice it at all.  That's always a good sign.

The buttons were interesting.  Sort of reminded me of Charvet buttons, actually.  They aren't thick like Borrelli, Fray, Lorenzini.  They are medium thick -- a bit thicker than Kiton, but not much -- and wider (sort of like Kiton).  But they aren't brown or yellowish.  They are bright white.  They remind me of Charvet because they have a little ring carved into the inside of them.  I like them -- another touch of uniqueness.

I didn't get to hold a shirt up to see the cut, but I imagine they are pretty slim.  Don't know what the shoulder pleating looks like either.  Nice shirt though.  At a retail of $325, I think that's an excellent price.

Jon, it wouldn't surprise me if the cut were most similar to Barba. Come to think of it, the collar was very Barbaesque in shape and substance.

 

[uriahheep]

Edit: Apparently I can't read.

 

[johnnynorman3]

I have a brochure that they gave me right here. The Campania Region www.regione.campania.it in collaboration with www.iactnewengland.com

 

[petescolari]

Was this the same thing that was advertised/exhibited in NY? Sounds vaguely familiar.

 

[johnnynorman3]

No idea, Pete. BTW, what do you all think about asking the woman running it whether she would be willing to sell any of the displayed items at discount price after the show is done. Seems like maybe they'd be willing to part with a Marinella tie at least.