Kiton (clothing brand)

Kiton is an Italian haute couture fashion house founded in 1968.
The founder of the company, Ciro Paone, was a fifth generation cloth merchant. Even earlier, in 1956, in partnership with Antonio Carola and Cesare Attolini (son of the famous tailor Vincenzo Attolini), he opened a company called CI.PA (short for Ciro Paone ). Later, the partners sold their shares one by one to Paone, and he became the sole owner of the company. In 1968, the CI.PA brand was renamed Kiton  - in honor of the chitons , clothing of the ancient Hellenes. According to Paone, this was done to enter foreign markets, as the abbreviation CI.PA seemed to him dissonant for English-speaking customers.
The company, which aspired to become a leader in tailoring traditional Neapolitan men's suits, quickly found its buyer in Italy. In Europe, Kiton suits gained popularity by the mid-1970s. Lines of women's clothing and accessories have been added to men's suits. The company is currently run by Antonio de Matteis, Paone's nephew. Men's shirts sell for approximately $1,000. The cost of a custom-tailored suit starts at $20,000 and for the K-50 line , which produces no more than 50 suits a year, can reach $50,000. In 1995, the company began producing perfumes in collaboration with the Estée Lauder concern. In 1998, at the New York Sotheby 's auction, the company acquired the complete collection of Duke of Windsor suits, which is now permanently displayed at its headquarters near Naples.
In addition to Italy, clothes of this brand are sold in the UK, USA, Spain, France, Germany, Lithuania, Ukraine - in total, more than 60 countries around the world. In 2004, the company's flagship boutique was opened in New York, on 54th Street. As of 2007, the factory produces about 20,000 suits annually, most of which require 25 hours of manual work and 45 workers.
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