MILAN — Kiton has big plans for 2026.
After closing out a positive 2025, chief executive officer Antonio De Matteis was upbeat about the company’s prospects. In an interview, he said Kiton will open a flagship in Via Montenapoleone in September and that it is restructuring its six-story town house and showroom on East 54th Street in New York, expected to be completed in early 2027. The latter will become a flagship as Kiton’s offices have already moved to Fifth Avenue.
The William H. Moore House, also known as the Stokes-Moore Mansion, is a commercial building between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue erected between 1898 and 1900 as a private residence in the Renaissance Revival style. Kiton acquired it in 2001 and opened it in 2003.
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“It is one of the 100 historical buildings in Manhattan, so we have to be respectful of its architecture and the regulations,” said De Matteis, adding that the store will not close during the work. It will carry both Kiton’s men’s and women’s collections, which have been growing steadily, with new additional categories such as jewelry, launched last year in the U.S.
The investment in New York reflects the fact that the U.S. is Kiton’s biggest market, said De Matteis, who clearly sees further growth potential in the region.
In 2021, Kiton opened a two-level, 1,700-square-foot shop at 692 Madison Avenue in Manhattan.
Kiton has 70 stores in the world and De Matteis said sales in the retail channel were up double digits last year. The company reported sales of 230 million euros in 2025, up from 225 million euros in 2024, leading the executive to say he was pleased with the performance in a year that was challenging for the industry. “The growth was homogeneous,” he said when asked about the main drivers.
The concept of both the New York project and of the Milan flagship was conceived by architect Michele Bönan.
In Milan, the store will cover more than 2,700 square feet, positioned in a prime location between the Zegna and Brunello Cucinelli units where Balmain used to stand.
“This is a very important step for us, a starting point that gives us great satisfaction,” he proudly said. “Milan has become a key international capital and has recently seen a wave of openings of luxury hotels and prime restaurants, and Via Montenapoleone is one of the best windows in the world.”
To support the growth of the company, Kiton is expanding its production capacity. Last year, it acquired an additional 15,000 square meters near the existing manufacturing plant in Arzano, less than five miles outside Naples, to build a production site dedicated to the women’s category.
De Matteis’ uncle Ciro Paone, who died in 2021, was a fifth-generation member of a family of Italian fabric merchants and he developed a small production of tailored pieces in 1956 under the CiPa label, which combined his initials. The company was eventually rebranded Kiton in 1968, taking inspiration from the name of the tunic worn in ancient Greece, the chiton. His daughter Maria Giovanna Paone is president of the company and creative director of the women’s division.
De Matteis said the men’s fall 2026 collection, to be presented in Milan at Palazzo Kiton on Saturday, is titled “La Verità del Fare [The Truth of Making],” and highlights “what is behind the products, not only our style. It’s an invitation to our customers to come and see what we do. We are very transparent — I am proud to say this.”
In fact, Kiton has been training artisans for 25 years, “a great investment that is giving exceptional results, we have many young artisans, average age 35, which is 20 years younger than the average in 2000,” he pointed out. “Our goal is to have a tailor in every store so that they can help customers with personalization and further improve our service, certifying our quality.”
Over the past two years, Kiton joined forces with the Triennale Milano Design Museum to shine a light on the importance of training the next generation of tailors and craftsmanship with the exhibition “Tailoring School. A Journey Into Education” which traveled from Milan to Paris.
