Decent made to measure. That’s how I would describe this final jacket from Kiton – made for me as part of the Harrod’s MTM events and described in previous posts on the commissioning and fitting.
The basics are all there – sleeve length correct, waist nicely suppressed, shoulders a little narrow as you’d expect on Neapolitan. Most impressive is that the collar fits so well across the neck, which you’d usually only get on bespoke.
But elsewhere it’s very apparent this is not bespoke. Despite my rather slouchy posture above, the poor impression of the line from the waist up into the armhole is accurate. The bottom picture also clearly shows that the fit of the back should be better – it’s collapsing on either side.
This is a very lightweight cloth, and some wrinkling as well as poor drape should be taken into account. But the small imperfections here and there are still easy to see. A decent MTM fit, but given that it costs over £4000, no competitor for bespoke.
This is a pity, because I like the material (as mentioned in the initial post). The silver-and-white weave is distinctive without being too showy, and it works well with a basic white-and-navy outfit. (Polo shirt from Luca Avitabile, handkerhief from Simonnot-Godard and chinos from Incotex.)
Another pale grey jacket would work in a similar combination. The simplicity of the whole brings out that textural detail in the cloth.
Incidentally, the three-roll-two on the front buttons is done nicely – and that shouldn’t be taken for granted. The tightness of the collar and the position of the canvas have to be spot on for it to work well. It comes naturally to most Italian tailors, but others struggle. It’s one thing I’d fault my Anderson & Sheppard suits for, for example. The position of the top button stops the lapel from rolling, ruining the line.
Pictures: Luke Carby
that’s an awful lot of money for an average fit – difficult to see who the market is for this?
People who buy Kiton, Brioni, Tom Ford etc ready-to-wear I suppose…
Its the issue of time. Young rich, generally fashion conscious consumers dont want to wait the better part of a year for bespoke, and there is some sympathy there.
Love the fabric.
Difficult to truly gauge the fit from the pic, I think it looks nice, all I see is normal linen ripples – but then, it does sound like you weren’t really expecting much from the fit seeing as it was MTM.
As you say, all this stuff is really only catering towards:
a) the super rich who need a brand name in the inner pocket
b) the guy who wants something towards bespoke but just doesn’t have the time for the process, which, admittedly, can be hellishly long when you just want it next week.
not enough contrast between the jacket and the pocket square
Shocking. No other word for it.
There is an excellent bespoke tailor working near Leeds, who puts in every stich, cut, padding etc himself, gives nothing to any outworker, and who will make you your own garment for less than half this price. with the added plus of a flawless fit.
I like the shape of the jacket. If Harrod’s would offer me such a jacket, I’d be very pleased to wear it, although if I had a spouse, I’d ask her to iron it. I hope you wear a helmet when you go bicycling.
Simon, disappointed with this ting tong spam nonsense – what is with this guy?
Love the jacket but sorry that you see so many faults and hope that you come to enjoy it. Fantastic combo of colours in my opinion and some great inspiration in this regard.
Best,
Sam
@Ting Tong – helmet did me little good when I broke my hip in a cycling accident.
@Simon – re-the ill fitting back, is that what makes it useful for cycling? Wider, so further reach?
Subtle dig perhaps…
Too much of a contrast between jacket and handkerchief. Keep it subtle bro!
Very poor value for money; the back is a disaster even for MTM.
The texture of the cloth looks interesting – colour is peculiar for a jacket but I suppose that is expected of Kiton’s exclusive cloths.
Not one of your finest commissions. I look forward to the Caraceni.
I hope they didn’t make you pay anything near the £4k…
No, as mentioned previously I didn’t pay for this – it was arranged by Harrod’s. (Unlike almost everything else I have made.)
They say the definition of maturity is the ability to postpone gratification.
Polo looks great Simon, like a beefer Chuc’s polo. Is it RTW?
Bespoke from Luca Avitabile…
over £4k for a MTM jacket is daylight robbery .. its around twice the price of most bespoke. its laughable really. the market is obvious … the ignorant and very rich.
the cloth looks flimsy, even for an Italian cloth, how is it ever going to hold any line? the back as others have said is a disaster, I wouldn’t buy even RTW if the back looked like that, the chest is huge as you would find on most RTW. frankly you could do better by going into M&S menswear, I don’t see the point of handwork and other flim flam if the fit and material makes you look like a Charlie. One for the back of the closet or one of the nephews Simon.
Hi Simon,
As a casual jacket, I like it. But wait a minute! Did you really write £ 4000 for its cost? I even intentionally let the “over” aside.
Please, Simon, let us know if at least you really feel wearing a … casual jacket that costs … Sorry, I do not dare write it down.
John
Sorry, should have clarified – 4000 was for a MTM suit from Lasa. Its a little less for a jacket, but not enough to make any difference to the value
I have to say, if I was paying £1k for that, let alone £4k, I wouldn’t have accepted it. £4k! The fit is terrible, even for a first iteration of MTM. Glad you got it as a freebie!
I think the photos are a little ungenerous on the fit, and as I said it’s very hard to tell much from photos generally. The chest isn’t bad at all – though the back is
I enjoy reading your posts. However i must say to state this is a poor fit is truly an understatement. I am glad you did not have to pay for it as that would be highway robbery.
The question is not if it is an ok fit but rather to keep or not to keep Kiton – at least as far as this jacket is concerned.
I appreciate your honesty about what you think of the final result compared to the price tag. I can´t say that I´m very impressed by the results but I do understand that the result can be hard to capture in pictures.
It´s strange because by the pictures (both in this article and the previous) I think I´ve seen better fit from Kiton off the rack. (Obviously not on you but from my own experience)
No matter the result I think it´s a great article even though I bet Harrod´s might feel otherwise?
Best Regards
Andreas
Now then Simon, we know you like the cloth but don’t like the fit… If you had to get it readjusted as a piece who would your first port of call be?
Probably Graham Browne – few other tailors would alter someone else’s work. It wouldn’t be a big improvement though – adjustments can’t ever make something a bespoke fit, unless it’s completely taken apart and recut…
Hi Simon,
I’ve still much to learn about fit, silhouette &c. so thanks for these opportunities to learn….
My questions:
1. You mentioned the “poor impression of the line from the waist up into the armhole” as one of the flaws you saw. Perhaps I’m not really seeing it? Was there supposed a more defined “hourglass” shape? You mentioned the waist was “nicely suppressed”… perhaps it’s too subtle? I’m trying to get a precise idea of how things should ideally fit…from my initial, perhaps naive impression of judging your photographs, the jacket fits nicely…and the line you mentioned I don’t see anything wrong…the jacket seems to be a more casual jacket so I wouldn’t expect severe lines …how should the line up the armhole look, ideally?
2. You mentioned the back on the sides are “collapsing” — are you referring to the two large ripples where your shoulder blades are and the one large ripple on the left side that extends a bit lower, towards the waist? Since the cloth is a wrinkly cloth, shouldn’t this be normal? How should it ideally look if you account for the wrinkly cloth being used?
3. What trousers are you wearing, and what colour are the trousers — charcoal or navy?
Thanks….
1 – it’s hard to explain without more images, but I would caution again against trying to take too much from many photos. I am describing my views, rather than describing the pictures
2 – you’d expect local wrinkles, but not large lines down the whole jacket
3 – navy Incotex chinos
I guess the question is, how Kiton (or Brioni for that matter) justify prices for MTM (and occasionally RTW) that are on par with bespoke from venerable Savile Row houses.
A few things would include: advertising, marketing, design time, unique cloths, retail outlets, and the same margin as any other area of luxury. It’s not that those guys are ripping people off, but that bespoke is fantastic value, even from a big Savile Row name
Simon, I truly never thought I would find myself defending Kiton but I would like to point out a few things to the screaming pack of armchair experts.
Garments rarely photograph really well. Open any issue of The Rake and you’ll see flaw-magnifying images of clothes from the best makers in the world.
Secondly, I do not like the Kiton jkt and wouldn’t pay near £4000 for it. However, the cut is very typically Neopolitan-Italian in that it’s subtly waisted, has soft lightly-structured shoulders and is not fully-lined. It looks like what it is. I’m sure Liverano et al could do better for the same price.
Finally, unless I’m mistaken, the pocket hankerchief is white with an overcheck? White is the one colour that goes with anything. It certainly looks fine with a pale summer jacketing such as this.
Thanks Paul. And yes, I agree on the handkerchief. It is white with a navy stripe around the border. It goes with anything
So would you reccomend this service to your loyal readers or would you sooner reccomend they see Liverano for example bearing in mind we won’t be getting it for free.
Spare a thought for Harrods though will you I mean… They give their staff a maximum of 43% discount so for I assume mr broderik to have given the go ahead for this freebie to only receive a terrible review after will be terrible for him amd them.
Big fan of your work Simon and I agree with Paul on the Neapolitan tailoring do you think that you’ll get much wear from it given that you don’t really like it or atleast that’s the way it’s coming across no offence and how can you possibly go wrong with Navy Grey and white
I can’t really recommend it given the price, no. However, I stand by the fact that it is decent made-to-measure, and many factors make the fit look worse than it is (as I say, never judge it by online pictures). It is also very lightweight and a soft construction.
“Decent made to measure” at the cost of finest bespoke.
Absurd.
Do you think you’ll wear it again?
Absolutely. There are still many things that are lovely about it – the soft, lightweight construction, the material, and even the cut. As I said, the fit qualifies as decent MTM for me. (Images are always deceiving in one way or another.)
I wear Kiton during the holidays;nice and comfy wherever you go … of course it will never reach the quality level of H Huntsman or Anderson and Sheppard …
The point though, Ger, is you can get that quality level from Neapolitan bespoke tailors that are just as comfy as Kiton. Better made and cheaper. Look up Caliendo, Solito, Runinacci
I’m a slim fit/painted on wearer of suits. I’m classified under Tom Ford as an O’connor fit. My tom ford suits are all MTM. Can you give us your best comparisons, pros and cons of tom ford vs Kiton Lasa? I’m very interested in investing on some Kiton suits. My tom ford 3piece suits cost me an average of 7k dollars dollars. I’m very happy with tom ford but would like to try Kiton.
Sure. You’ll find a slightly higher level of hand work on the Lasa suits, but the more important thing is the style, which will be very different. In every place Ford is looking to accentuate the shoulders and physicality, Kiton is looking to downplay and create a soft Neapolitan look.
I think you could get much better value suits in either style by going to one of the bespoke tailors I’ve discussed here, but if you want RTW from these brands, shop on the basis of that difference in style
Thank you so much for your advice..
Any of these tailors coming to New York City anytime in the new year?
Do you have any tailors you can recommend who are based in NYC?
Please have a read around the blog. Not much in New York itself, no, but Solito, Cifonelli, Chittleborough, all travel to NY as well as every Savile Row tailor. Have a read about the different ones on this site, then contact the one you like the style of most
It needs a process with iron for the protruding shoulder blades.
I’m not normally a fan of light grey but tha jacket is an excellent choice. The fabric is amazing.