Fragrance house

Kiton

Kiton was founded in 1968 by Ciro Paone in Arzano, near Naples, to make handcrafted clothing rooted in Neapolitan sartorial tradition. The brand remains a family business whose history spans three generations of the Paone family. Its early offer grew from men’s jackets to shirts and ties; within about two decades, the original workshop had become an 11,000-square-metre operation with a reputation across Europe. Maria Giovanna Paone joined the business in the 1980s and led the creation of its womenswear line in the 1990s. In 2001, Kiton opened its Scuola di Alta Sartoria to train new generations of tailors in the Neapolitan tradition. In 2021, the second generation took up Ciro Paone’s moral and entrepreneurial legacy and relaunched Kiton’s values around technological innovation and sartorial experimentation. In 2023, Kiton signed a Governance Pact for generational transition and established a new holding company to oversee the Group. Kiton entered The Estée Lauder Companies’ portfolio through an exclusive global fragrance license in 1995. Kiton Black was introduced in March 2007 as a couture version of the original fragrance, reflecting the brand’s tailoring identity.