Both houses build their jackets largely by hand in and around Naples, and both put that fact at the centre of how they sell. Neither publishes an audited percentage of hand versus machine work, so any precise figure attached to a specific jacket is marketing or guesswork. The useful question is not how much handwork a label claims but where it shows on the garment in front of you.
Hand-finished buttonholes are the easiest tell: the stitches are slightly irregular and the reverse looks as considered as the face. Pick-stitching along lapel and pocket edges and a sleeve set into the shoulder with small gathers, the shirt-style shoulder Naples is known for, are the other common markers. Attolini jackets are closely associated with that soft, puckered sleeve head, while Kiton's shoulder generally reads a little cleaner and more built.
Vincenzo Attolini, a cutter at the London House tailoring firm in Naples in the 1930s, is widely credited with stripping the padding and stiff interlining out of the English-style jacket, which is where the Neapolitan soft jacket begins. His son Cesare carried that work into the family business that now bears his name. Kiton was founded separately in 1956 by Ciro Paone and grew into one of the largest and most expensive makers in Neapolitan tailoring.
Both houses cut from high-grade Italian and English cloth, and the composition varies from one jacket to the next, from plain worsted to cashmere, silk and linen blends. Read the label on the individual piece rather than assuming a house cloth. A higher Super number means a finer fibre and a softer hand, but it also means a cloth that shines and wears through faster at the elbows and seat.
New, both labels sit at the very top of ready-to-wear tailoring. Secondhand, they lose much of that price, because a tailored jacket only suits buyers who fit its shoulders and length, and Italian sizing narrows the pool further. Kiton has the wider name recognition, while Attolini is known mostly to people who already follow tailoring, so comparable Attolini pieces can list for less simply because fewer searchers are looking for them.
Ask for flat measurements and compare them with a jacket that already fits you, starting with shoulder width, which a tailor cannot meaningfully change. Check sleeve length next: working cuff buttonholes mean sleeves can only be shortened from the shoulder, which is costly on a hand-set sleeve. Then look at the label for composition, and inspect elbows, collar and cuff edges for wear before weighing the price.
For more on how we assess value, see our process.
