Like its fashion apparel, Kiton’s retail boutiques are recognized for their striking and sophisticated designs. And its home base in Milan, the Palazzo Kiton is a standout. The building was owned by fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré and purchased by Kiton a decade ago. Here WWD Style Director Alex Badia interviews Kiton CEO Antonio De Matteis at the Palazzo Kiton, De Matteis shares insights into the purchase of the Palazzo, the brand’s growth, and the role of women’s wear in the company’s success.
Alex Badia: Tell us a little about the Palazzo.
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Antonio De Matteis: The Palazzo Kiton was one of our biggest investments that we did almost 10 years ago. In November, it will mark 10 years since we bought this building. And it changed us because we have a fantastic place to shoot a collection, and a great place to receive our clients. So, this was a big step for our company and our brand.
It’s beautiful. Talk to us about your vision for Kiton.
The vision for Kiton is to continue to grow in a good and meaningful way. And this means looking for quality, and certainly looking for innovation. I think that each company today must be very innovative, but also not forgetting the DNA of the company and the brand. But for me, innovation is key to be successful today.
Can you tell us about Kiton’s expansion plans?
With our expansion plan, we have a lot of meat on the fire, so to speak. We are on the way to opening a few stores around the world. One is opening in Frankfurt, one in Vienna, one in Riyadh. We are also on the way to open a shop in Milan and a second one in London on Sloane Street.
A few months ago, we also bought land in front of our factory to build a new factory for the increased production of paints, of shoes, of accessories, and a big space for logistics. Logistics has become very important for us to provide good service and delivery to our clients. And that is why we are investing a lot of money in this new space, which will be around 20,000 square meters.
I just met with Maria Giovanna Paone [the creative director of womenswear at Kiton], and she showed me an exclusive preview of the womenswear collection. What is your vision for womenswear at Kiton?
I think that we are doing very well with women’s, thanks to what Giovanna is doing. I think that since we are opening new stores in the last three years, we have been promoting womenswear and it has been successful. Every store that we’re opening is dedicated 50 percent to men and 50 percent to womenswear.
We started doing 50/50 immediately after the pandemic with the Milan store and Roma store, which was just menswear prior to the pandemic. When we opened this new store in Roma, one floor was dedicated to women’s and one floor for men’s. And business doubled.
But the most important number that we have from the store is that 70 percent of the visitors of the store are ladies. That means the ladies are buying for men, but men are not buying for ladies. And the same is happening in Milan. Milan went from 5 percent of ladies’ business to 35 percent of women’s business with our relocation. After this result, we decided to switch all the stores into men and womenswear.
And what about Kiton’s growth in the U.S.?
The United States is our biggest market.
It is still your number one market?
Yes. We are doing very well in our stores there. We are still growing. Last year, 2022, was our best year, and we are growing around 30 percent from 2020.
Kiton’s Women’s Collection for Spring/Summer 2024
Un’Estate Italiana: An Italian Summer
Kiton’s inspiration for its spring-summer 2024 women’s collection is the essence of summer. “Some summers are made to last,” the brand noted. “Especially when they are imprinted upon us through images, colours and scents that become part of the pathways of our memories, keeping us company during the colder seasons.”
For this collection, the images, colours and scents include the orange blossoms of Sicily and the the strong, imposing olive trees of Puglia, and even the spectacular red-tinged sunsets of the Amalfi Coast.” Sounds dreamy.