Kiton is a company of profound depth and substance—it rests on a motherlode of Neapolitan tailoring expertise—yet its womenswear struggles to articulate the full span of its potential. To her credit, Maria Giovanna Paone, daughter of Kiton’s great mastermind Ciro, understands that to expose a fresh audience to this tradition, you must first get them in the door. So this season’s collection, if as yet only subtly, still marked a loosening. Although that Ciro-defined sartorial tradition remains Kiton’s credo, Paone here drew some fruitful inspiration from her mother, Rosaria—one of whose ’50s Paris-bought bouclé pieces was the basis of a full-armed monochrome bouclé coat with matching high boots that has already excited the buyers. A silk blouse with panels of fabric on the front prone to dramatic wafting when worn was teamed with a full black skirt. A white cashmere kimono evening look came with a stole of albino chinchilla. There was, of course, a great deal of tailoring: fuchsia-accented evening suits, a tuxedo, and a white double-breasted jacket. Jackets were also liberated from their orthodox down-south counterpoints—aka matching pants. This represents heresy for Kiton purists but worked well because it allowed you to focus on the jacket without classifying it as part of a suit. A pale, soft-shouldered cashmere mini caban—almost alive with delicately counterpointing plies of marl—was woven, of course, in cashmere and came with a belt for cinching. It was fantastic. Kiton’s capacity for producing masterpieces such as this is not in question: The challenge it faces is to find them eyeballs.
