When someone you know well who dresses the same every day changes one small detail, the size of the impact is disproportionate to that of the change. At Kiton today there were several small changes that added up to make a significant impact. It wasn’t just that we were in a different space and that the edit was tight rather than sprawling. It was that the collection itself showed a subtle but distinct sense of ambition to progress beyond the beautifully made but same-y and staid ground that is this Neapolitan house’s comfort zone.
The first all–cady silk look of V-neck top, belt-cinched jacket, loose pants, and highly shrug-on-able wide-lapel coat was, in theory, merely the slightest deviation from Kiton’s tailored norm. Yet there was an attitude to it that suggested, at last, progression in imagined context for these clothes into a milieu already populated by Agnona, Hermès, and Brunello Cucinelli that Kiton certainly has the quality but until now has lacked the vision to breach.
The dresses and jackets in strips of plonge leather on georgette, the wide leather pants and belt, the Pierre Cardin–ish double-face cashmere coat in navy and white, and the attractive abstract fish-print silk skirts were more typical Kiton fare executed as per normal with irreproachable proficiency. And of course the suits were exceptional—also as normal.
Sales are up 30 percent for the label. Daring to widen its vision a bit more would surely pay even greater dividends for Kiton womenswear.
