Inside Cesare Attolini's Naples Workshop

Cesare Attolini operates from a modern building in Casalnuovo, the area outside Naples known as the 'city of tailors'. The workshop reveals a business where half of all tailoring is bespoke or made-to-measure, a proportion higher than at any other large-scale maker.

The Workshop Floor

Hand-sewing collars and hand-padding chests is a practice typically reserved for bespoke tailors. At Attolini, this is done for its bespoke and 'su misura' lines. Many of the hundred or so workers on the floor are occupied with hand stitching on the exterior of jackets, often featuring double rows on hems and seams.

One worker was observed slowly and precisely hand-cutting the curved 'barchetta' breast pocket, snipping the canvas inside to allow it to stretch into shape, and carefully matching complex checks. At another table, a worker cut buttonholes using a bespoke method, aligning a chisel-like tool on the material before hammering it to cut, guided by a chalk mark.

The Art of Pressing

The pressing stage stood out as a subtle art. A craftsman spent several minutes pressing the darts of a single jacket to shrink the cloth and add shape to the waist. This is a significant amount of time for one step and is particularly challenging on the lightweight materials Attolini typically uses.

Massimiliano Attolini explained the result. "Sometimes we say our jackets are Neapolitan in the top half, English in the bottom," he said, pointing to the shaped skirt created by this pressing. This gives Attolini jackets slightly more shape in the lower half compared to other Neapolitan styles.

Cutting occurs in a separate room hung with patterns. Bespoke patterns are made from cloth, not paper, reflecting the house's original methods. Suits are cut individually, not in stacks. In the trouser section, the waistband 'skirt' is made individually for each pair. Massimiliano Attolini stated, "This is so the pleats, which allow the skirt to expand when you move or bend, can sit in the right place."

A Preference for British Cloth

The cloth room was a highlight. Despite the brand's association with Italian colour and cashmere, most of the cloth used is British. Massimiliano Attolini attributed this to a long-standing preference. "We've always loved British," he said. "My father did, and he passed that on to us."

The room held decades-old archive bolts, including exclusive fabrics developed for the house. A standout was a four-ply cashmere made from a mix of woollen and worsted yarn, woven for body without excessive thickness. There were also exclusive worsteds, like a six-ply wool from the old English mill Edwin Woodhouse.

Massimiliano Attolini noted the value of these archives. "We keep all these archive cloths for years," he said. "It means we can offer customers not only new things but also cloths that just aren't made any more." He also pointed out beautiful colours in Shetland tweeds, though he noted they now appeal mainly to knowledgeable customers.

Business Evolution

The company's business model has shifted. From being sold in hundreds of wholesale outlets worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s, Attolini has greatly reduced that number and expanded its own retail. It now has stores in Milan, New York, Miami, Moscow, Monte Carlo, and London.

Expanding into new markets has not always been straightforward. Massimiliano Attolini recalled the early days in Moscow. "When we first opened in Moscow, it was hard," he said. "In the 1990s and 2000s no one understood the soft Neapolitan jacket. Today people get it, it's easier." The recent opening of a London store prompted the visit to the Naples headquarters, coinciding with a broader appreciation for softer Neapolitan tailoring in the UK over the past 15 years.