Introduction
Mariano De Matteis is one of the co-founders and creative directors of KNT, the contemporary line within the Kiton universe. Together with his twin brother Walter De Matteis, he represents the third generation of the family’s leadership and helped launch KNT in 2018 as a way to translate Kiton’s tailoring and textile culture into a younger, more metropolitan wardrobe.
His authorship should be read collaboratively rather than as a solo designer narrative. KNT’s public identity is built around shared direction: technical fabrics, soft tailoring, knitwear, sport references, sneakers and urban silhouettes that remain tied to Kiton’s material discipline. Mariano’s profile connects directly to KNT first, and to Kiton as the parent system second.
Design ethos
Mariano De Matteis works within a design language of movement, texture and controlled casualness. KNT keeps the seriousness of Kiton cloth but shifts it into a less formal register: relaxed trousers, technical outerwear, knitwear, travel pieces and sports-inflected silhouettes built for city life.
The ethos is not a rejection of the family house. It is a translation of it. KNT uses contemporary references — architecture, sport, metropolitan culture — to test how Neapolitan tailoring knowledge can survive in garments that do not look like classic tailoring at first glance.
Disclaimer
Career history
2018
KNT’s New York launch turns Kiton New Textures into a public-facing collection project, translating the house’s fabric culture into a compact wardrobe of urban outerwear, soft tailoring, sports trousers, sweatshirts and sneakers.
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