Introduction
Antonio De Matteis is the CEO of Kiton and the figure most closely associated with the house’s contemporary menswear direction. A nephew of founder Ciro Paone, he began working at the company in the 1980s and became chief executive in 2007, guiding Kiton through global retail expansion, vertical integration and a renewed emphasis on textile research.
His role bridges management and creative authorship. De Matteis is not a runway designer in the celebrity-director mould; he is a second-generation family steward whose influence is visible in the way Kiton balances Neapolitan handwork with a modern international wardrobe. Menswear under his leadership has kept the house’s soft tailoring code while adding lighter silhouettes, travel-oriented clothes, technical fabric development and a more contemporary idea of quiet luxury.
Beyond Kiton, De Matteis has also become an industry figure through Pitti Immagine, where his presidency connects the brand to the wider Italian menswear system. His profile belongs beside the core Kiton people records because he is both executive successor and current menswear creative lead.
Design ethos
De Matteis’ design ethos is based on evolution without rupture. He works inside the Kiton language of rare fabrics, light tailoring, handwork and Neapolitan ease, but pushes it towards the life of a contemporary client: travel, leisure, mobility, colour, softness and a wardrobe that can move between formal and relaxed settings.
His most important creative contribution is the expansion of Kiton’s fabric-first logic into a broader system: proprietary wool research, lighter summer tailoring, more fluid shapes and the support of KNT as a third-generation experiment. The result is a version of menswear that remains conservative in values but modern in use.
Disclaimer
Career history
2014
Palazzo Kiton in Via Pontaccio gives the house a Milanese fashion-week base, turning the former Ferré building into a showroom and cultural address for the brand’s menswear and womenswear presentations.
2010
By the end of the 2000s and the Carlo Barbera acquisition period, Kiton’s craft identity becomes increasingly vertical: tailoring, knitwear, outerwear and textile development are drawn into a more controlled Italian production system.
2007
Antonio De Matteis becomes the central second-generation executive and menswear creative figure at Kiton, leading the house through vertical integration, global retail expansion and a more contemporary interpretation of Neapolitan tailoring.
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