Kiton

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Kiton was founded in 1968 in Naples, Italy by Ciro Paone. Kiton is considered one of the most exclusive and prestigious fashion houses in the world, and a garment made by this company is just about the most expensive ready-to-wear available. The company makes about 20,000 suits a year that usually cost US$5,000 - $15,000 each. All Kiton suits are completely handmade. They can be tailor-made or purchased at a small number of exclusive stores, such as Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco, California, Louis Boston in Boston, and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.

Most suits normally take about 25 hours of labor, and at least 45 tailors contribute to every one. The most expensive Kiton suit is the "50K", so named because it takes approximately 50 hours to produce, costing $30,000 - $50,000, and is made exclusively by Kiton's chief tailor who personally measures and fits the client.The suit is made exclusively by Kiton's master tailor Enzo D'Orsi, one of the giants of international suit making.

Because he and he alone can actually craft the suit -- he will travel anywhere in the world to conduct measurements and fittings -- a maximum of 50 appear each year, a rarity that only adds to their mystique and allure, not to mention cost.

If you think of the hierarchy of tailoring in terms of Mount Everest, down at the bottom -- somewhere around base camp -- you have your average run-of-the mill, mass-produced, off-the-peg suit.

From that level you climb steadily upwards, the atmosphere becoming ever more rarified as you go, the price-tag ever more exorbitant, past off-the-peg designer suits, made-to-measure suits, bespoke suits, until eventually, right up near the top, you encounter hand-made suits cut and stitched by the master-craftsmen of the world's truly great tailoring houses: H. Huntsman of Savile Row, William Fioravanti, Brioni, Attolini, Caraceni.

Above even those, however, sitting right at the very summit of the tailoring world, are suits made by legendary Italian tailoring company Kiton (named after the ancient Greek "chiton" -- a garment supposedly woven by virgins from only the very finest fabrics).

Source: - cnn article on Kiton:- http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/20/ultimate.suit/

Kiton dress shirts are also handmade, as are Kiton's seven-fold silk neckties. A strong believer in tailoring by hand, Paone inaugurated a tailor's school in Kiton's factory in Naples.

Kiton opened its US$40 million New York flagship and showroom on West 54th Street in 2004. Like many other tailored clothing companies, Kiton has diversified in recent years to include sportswear, footwear, fragrances, furnishings and a women's collection.