Kiton and Triennale Team Again on Education Showcase During Paris Men’s Fashion Week
TAKE TWO: Italian tailoring specialist Kiton has joined forces once again with the Triennale Milano Design Museum to shine a light on the importance of training the next generation of tailors and craftsmanship.
Those ideas were channeled into the exhibition “Tailoring School. A Journey Into Education,” which was curated by Luca Stoppini, adviser to Triennale’s fashion department. It is currently being held at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Paris.
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The first edition was held in Milan in January 2024.
“In the moment where everybody is talking about the education of a new generation of artisans, Kiton has been doing that since 25 years,” said Antonio De Matteis, chief executive officer of the Neapolitan house.
Of the students trained by Kiton, 80 percent work for the company, with the rest being hired by others in and around Naples. “We can say that our school is 100 percent successful,” said De Matteis, highlighting three graduates became entrepreneurs, having opened their own tailor shops.
“We have to give a chance, like our fathers gave to us,” he continued, referring to Kiton’s student body. “We have to teach the new generation.”
Paris Fashion Week was a perfect international context for this exhibition, which is open to the public through Saturday, according to De Matteis. “We want to show who we are,” he explained.
The concept of the exhibition is the same as it was in Milan, bringing together bolts of fabrics and books of swatches that can be touched and leafed through. There are also teachers present and students at tables hard at work tailoring.
“It’s a good way to show education,” De Matteis said. “It’s part of the culture of Kiton. We want to show the DNA of the company…innovation in fabrics, innovation in education, innovation in the way we think the company has to be.”
Marco Sammicheli, director of the Triennale, said the concept for the exhibit originally came about when there was increasing talk about big companies launching fashion education programs for youths. At the time, he learned Kiton had been doing that for a quarter of a century. How it conveys and transfers knowledge was to be celebrated. The private company plays an important public role.
Sammicheli was struck by a data point. “Before the school, the average age of a tailor [in Naples] was 65 years old, mainly men and traditionally people with disabilities,” he said. “After 25 years of this school, the average age is 37, and the profile is men and women. It’s amazing to see the shift of generations.”
The transmission of artisanal approaches to fashion is key.
“As a public institution, we need to promote these kinds of activities,” Sammicheli continued. “You really need to see the vernacular joy of a student who wants to approach this métier. It’s pure craftsmanship.”
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