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"  The French might have the food, the Germans their engineering prowess and we British our dry humour (not to mention weather), but it&amp;#039;s undoubtably the Italians who have the edge when it comes to style.  To celebrate this talent and mark the conclusion of another amazing men&amp;#039;s fashion week in Milan, we&amp;#039;ve put together a guide to the Italian tailors you need to know about, from Kiton to Caruso.   ***  \u00A0  \u00A0  1 | Boglioli    Boglioli excels in tailoring, specifically jackets. Defined by their soft shoulders, nipped waists and light weights, Boglioli\u2019s garment-dyed clothes have an understated aesthetic, which feels particularly relevant now.  \u201CBoglioli\u2019s tailoring is ideal for men who want to remain unique, but with a conservative touch,\u201D says Jason Broderick, fashion director of menswear at Harrods. \u201CThe fit of the jackets embrace the body but don\u2019t strangle the wearer, giving freedom to move, resulting in a brilliantly styled silhouette.\u201D  Boglioli dates from the early 1900s when the family opened a men\u2019s tailors in Gambara, Lombardy. By the Seventies, their reputation for elegance found them in great demand producing garments for other houses. It repositioned as a\u00A0standalone house again in\u00A0the Nineties, producing suits, jackets and overcoats. Their defining moment came when Pierluigi Boglioli [above] took the structure out of their tailored jackets, resulting in what he called \u201Cdressed-down tailoring\u201D.  \u201CWe are constantly researching the fit, asking how many millimetres to take in or let out,\u201D says Pierluigi\u2019s brother, company president Mario Boglioli. \u201CThere\u2019s a constant dialogue between us and our customers.\u201D Bought by Italian private equity fund Wise in 2000, the brand has consolidated its reputation as a connoisseur\u2019s label of quality.  \u201CBoglioli is the epitome of relaxed, stylish tailoring, typified by their \u2018Dover\u2019 jacket shape,\u201D says Sam Kershaw, a senior buyer at mrporter.com. \u201CIt is a brand with universal appeal: easy for an older consumer with more \u2018classic\u2019 leanings, but it does bolder colours and fabric choices for more adventurous shoppers, too.\u201D  boglioli.it  2 | Rubinacci    Luca Rubinacci [above] is one of the great Neapolitan peacocks, the man at the helm of Rubinacci, founded by his grandfather Gennaro in Naples in 1932. \u201CHe was considered an arbiter elegantiarum,\u201D Luca says, \u201Cand young men of good families would ask him to accompany them to\u00A0tailors and advise them on the cut, fit and cloth of their wardrobes. One\u00A0day, Gennaro came up with the idea of opening a\u00A0gentlemen\u2019s club where his friends could discuss cloth. Shortly after, he founded the \u2018London House\u2019, now known as Rubinacci.\u201D  It is from this flagship London House \u2014\u00A0named because Neapolitans considered Gennaro\u2019s style to be\u00A0inspired by the English dandy \u2014 on Naples\u2019 Via Filangieri that Rubinacci has sold its wares ever since.  With stores across the globe, its customer is every bit as international as Luca himself. Suits are cut from soft flannels, wools and\u00A0silks in lively shades, while cuts are Neapolitan with a\u00A0soft \u201Cmappina\u201D shoulder (defined by\u00A0a\u00A0full sleeve and a high arm hole), a synched waist \u2014\u00A0achieved, Rubinacci says, by \u201Ca front seam extended below the pocket to the bottom\u00A0of the\u00A0jacket\u201D \u2014 and minimal construction.  Rubinacci also boasts an extraordinary archive of vintage fabrics. \u201CIf you are\u00A0a cloth aficionado we have an enviable reputation for\u00A0vintage cloth, built on my father\u2019s collection that I continued,\u201D Luca says. \u201CWe\u00A0have more than 60,000m of\u00A0vintage fabric [defined as pre-Eighties], mostly in storage in\u00A0Naples but with a good\u00A0amount viewable to\u00A0customers in London.\u201D  If you\u2019re not yet in the market\u00A0for a\u00A0bespoke Rubinacci suit (average\u00A0price is \u00A33,400), the tailor is opening\u00A0a new ready-to-wear store in Milan off Montenapoleone, in via\u00A0del\u00A0Ges\u00F9.  \u201CThe new branch will have 400sq m of\u00A0space where clients can talk about cloth\u00A0and enjoy our ready-to-wear proposal.\u00A0It\u2019s also defined by our cut, lightness\u00A0and use of vintage fabrics.\u201D  marianorubinacci.net  \u00A0  3 | Isaia    \u201CWhen our customers experience Isaia for the\u00A0first time, they are often blown away by the thought behind each detail,\u201D says Gianluca Isaia [above]. \u201CIt is this passion that keeps them coming back.\u201D  Gianluca is the\u00A0third generation of\u00A0Isaias to helm the tailoring company, which\u00A0is noted for mixing technology with tradition.  \u201CThe label was founded in Naples in the\u00A0Twenties thanks to the intuition of my grandfather Enrico,\u201D he explains. \u201CHe opened\u00A0a fabric store for the most renowned tailors in town. Later, he set up a small workshop next to the store where skilled craftsmen created tailor-made clothing for the highest-end clients. In 1957, brothers Enrico, Rosario and Corrado Isaia moved the\u00A0business to Casalnuovo, a village near Naples where half of the residents were professional tailors. Within the decade, Isaia\u00A0began producing some of the most sought-after garments in Italy. After that, the\u00A0business grew internationally.\u201D  The key to Isaia\u2019s success may be the\u00A0brand\u2019s modern take on traditional tailoring. Off-the-peg suits are cut slim and lapels are narrow, while the rest of the brand\u2019s offering feels young and approachable. Unlike many more traditional Neapolitan houses, Isaia\u00A0has a distinct innovative streak which has helped it break into the international market, being stocked as far afield as Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, Neiman Marcus (USA) and Harrods (UK). \u201COur Aqua series of fabrics \u2014\u00A0part of our \u2018basics\u2019 programme \u2014 is\u00A0definitely not so \u2018basic\u2019,\u201D Isaia says. \u201CCombining the best in luxury fabrics with water-resistant technology, we have created the highest level of functionality and style.\u201D  Innovation aside, what else draws\u00A0people to Isaia? \u201COur customers come to\u00A0us for a full tailoring experience. Together\u00A0with fun in fabrics, fit and models, we\u00A0have the expertise to help any man build\u00A0his own personal style,\u201D Gianluca says.  isaia.it  \u00A0  4 | MP di Massimo Piombo    Founding his company in 1989, Massimo Piombo [above] quickly established himself as a favourite of Milan\u2019s best-dressed men for his use of artisanal fabrics and bold colours. Trained in London, Scotland and France and based in Genoa, Piombo spent his\u00A0formative years visiting factories across the\u00A0globe sourcing the best cloths.  \u201COur collections are developed with exclusive fabrics,\u201D says Carlo Alberto Piombo, sales manager for diffusion\u00A0line MP\u00A0di\u00A0Massimo Piombo. \u201CWe use\u00A0baby alpaca from Hungary,\u00A0mohair from Austria, cashmere from\u00A0Mongolia, linen from Ireland and silk\u00A0from Lyon.\u201D  Overcoats and jackets are\u00A0unstructured and slouchy with armholes\u00A0cut high and sleeves narrow. This affords\u00A0each garment a lean shape without compromising on comfort.  \u201CMP di Massimo Piombo represents\u00A0an idea which combines graceful design\u00A0and formality,\u201D Carlo says. \u201CRich with masculine accents and poetic visions, for essential garments that are versatile yet always impeccable, emphasised by a\u00A0classic soul but\u00A0revisited in a modern style.\u201D  Massimo Piombo speaks with equal\u00A0clarity about the man he imagines wears\u00A0his clothes. \u201C[They are] envisaged and designed for beautiful people,\u201D he explains. \u201CMP Piombo is a \u2018secret couture\u2019 concept for a sophisticated, original, classy, independent image which exalts character, class and individuality.\u201D  Produced in collaboration with\u00A0Neapolitan tailors Kiton, everything in the collection is hand-made, with each button sewn by hand. And, though the price point\u00A0is a notch higher than Piombo\u2019s main line,\u00A0you get what you pay for with this partnership between two of Italy\u2019s most important\u00A0tailoring powerhouses.  mpmassimopiombo.com  \u00A0  5 | Kiton    A Neapolitan suit can customarily be identified by a soft shoulder, synched waist, wide lapel and bold hue, but suits produced by Neapolitan tailors Kiton break this tradition.  For six decades, the label has taken pride in immaculate garments handmade in the city\u2019s traditional way though minus what they deem Neapolitan flamboyance. \u201CCiro Paone, the founder, tried to create a handmade product \u2018made in Napoli\u2019, but looking as un-Neapolitan as possible,\u201D says Kiton\u2019s director, and Paone\u2019s nephew, Antonio De Matteis [above]. \u201CHe tried to remove the excess, and make a Neapolitan jacket that didn\u2019t draw attention to itself.\u201D  Established by eighth-generation fabric merchant Paone and business manager Antonio Carola in 1956, the brand was originally Cipa before changing name to Kiton (after the Greek chiton, or tunic) eight years later. Today, the decades of experience are palpable in its clothing. Each of its suits takes 45 tailors\u00A0a minimum 25 hours to create, with each part cut and sewn by hand. Pockets are hand cut and stitched, a rare practice since each one takes up to an hour to complete (a machine can stitch maybe 400 pockets in the same time). Jackets are pressed using vintage irons and local spring water: there is little about their factory, 20 minutes northeast of Naples, that speaks of 21st-century \u201Cprogress\u201D.  Suit fabrics are made by Kiton\u2019s own mill, Lanificio Carlo Barbera, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Ciro Paone started the company with just 20 tailors and it has grown every year since. Now it has its own tailoring school, taking in up to 14 students annually. They spend two years in the classroom, then two years as apprentices working with tailors. The company\u2019s motto is \u201Cll meglio del meglio pi\u00F9 uno\u201D (\u201Cthe best of the best, plus one\u201D). \u201CThe suit is Kiton\u2019s business card,\u201D De\u00A0Matteis says. \u201CAnd Kiton is one of the few brands in the world that makes quality.\u201D\u00A0  kiton.it  \u00A0  6 | Caruso    &amp;quot;A Caruso suit is the highest quality, both in terms of our components and labour,&amp;quot; says Umberto Angeloni [above], CEO of the acclaimed menswear label. \u201CAs an example, each button hole take 15 minutes to make. Caruso also develops special categories of cloth never before available in men\u2019s clothing.\u201D  Raffaele Caruso launched his tailoring business in Naples in 1958, making suits for wealthy farmers and landowners. Though he started small (his first employees were his wife and sister-in-law), by the Seventies he was a major supplier in the third-party manufacturing of menswear. Now Caruso produces 1,000 made-to-measure suits and jackets a month. Defining factors include a full canvas construction and hand-finished details.  \u201CA Caruso suit has the most evolved tailored fit or look,\u201D Angeloni says. \u201CAnd nothing less can be expected of a company that invests five per cent of its human talent in research and development [32 full-time staff], creating up to 4,000 prototypes of jackets per year, to capture that evolution required to adapt the suit\u2019s construction and silhouette to the changes in man\u2019s lifestyle, shape and taste.\u201D  Though suits remain its core, Caruso, has expanded into carefully crafted knitwear, outerwear and separates.  \u201CIn terms of pure style, Caruso designs and manufactures with only one customer in mind: the \u2018good Italian\u2019,\u201D Angeloni says. \u201CIt\u2019s a term used by Ernest Hemingway to define a person with a superior sense of eclectic and fastidious elegance, the ability to detect originality and value, acquired through many generations as part of his natural lifestyle. Italians are, in fact, Caruso\u2019s best clients, and as long as we remain relevant to them, we can call ourselves authentically \u2018Italian\u2019 as a brand.\u201D  This article originally appeared on Esquire in 2015.  Any we&amp;#039;ve missed?  *** MORE STYLE:A Menswear Reader: The Best Books About Men&amp;#039;s StyleInside The Luxury Swim Shorts BoomHow To Wear White Jeans*** "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.co.uk/style/news/a8228/six-of-the-best-italian-tailors-worth-seeking-out/>