In the history of men’s suiting the Neapolitan brand Cesare Attolini plays an important role. Once upon a time, back in the pre-war days Vincenzo Attolini (the grandfather of the current owners of the brand - Massimiliano and Giuseppe Attolini) began experimenting with the design of a jacket, trying to lighten it as much as possible. He had no choice but to get rid of some of the horsehair inner liners, which had provided the jacket with structure, but also thickened it. He gained the reputation for being Avant Guard and was misunderstood until the 1960s when the heat of summertime Capri and Amalfi drove vacationing Hollywood stars and aristocrats to seek out the designer’s lightweight jackets. There is a story about how the arbiter of elegance, the Duke of Windsor, who almost never cheated on his English tailor, stopped a passer-by on Capri and asked who had made him a wonderful light jacket.
Thus the Neapolitan jacket, which is as light as a shirt, entered men’s wardrobes forever. This work was continued by Vincenzo's son, Cesare Attolini. He also founded the factory of the same name in the town of Casalnuovo near Naples. Despite the industrial approach, much here resembles the work of an atelier. Only here more than one tailor makes a product from start to finish, and a separate master works on each operation. At the same time, as in a real Neapolitan atelier, they do not sit separately, but at common tables, and can communicate while working. Cesare Attolini can produce no more than 10,000 suits, coats and jackets per year. Moreover, half of this amount is made up of bespoke and made-to-measure private orders.
