Kiton celebrates 25 years of the Haute Couture School: 80 alumni hired

The eight best students of the Kiton School of Haute Couture were awarded their diplomas: this was the end of the ninth three-year course of the prestigious school in Arzano. The graduation ceremony of the Scuola di Alta Sartoria, which coincided with the school's twenty-fifth anniversary, was held at the Kiton headquarters in Arzano: for the young graduates, this is the conclusion of an important training course and at the same time the start of a new phase in which to put themselves to the test in the field thanks to professional opportunities in the world of sartorial excellence.

 This year, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary, a prize was awarded to the three best students: the first prize went to a young woman from Argentina. A sign of the times and of a School that has changed profoundly over the years.

The tailors' school was in fact the brainchild of the company's founder, Ciro Paone, who at that time found himself with an ageing workforce that would soon retire and no demand for apprenticeships from young people. In other words, an important tradition, that of Neapolitan tailoring, was being lost as the tailor's trade appeared disqualified in the eyes of young people. It was necessary to start training as soon as possible, since it takes years of apprenticeship to become a tailor, but above all, it was necessary to give value to the trade. Today we can say that the challenge has been met. Confirmation comes from the number of enrolments (even if not everyone enrolled reaches the end of the course) and also from the participation of young people who are already well trained. The last course started with 22 enrolments, eight arrived at the end and three were awarded. "Our courses _ says group president Maria Giovanna Paone _ are enrolled by young people who know languages, including graduates or undergraduates, in engineering or with a diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts. Many are driven by real passion and can aspire to different types of roles in the company'. Production managers, or sales people in Italy and abroad. For example, two young graduates in recent years are sales and measurement workers in the New York shop, another in Miami. In other words, in 25 years the school has changed as much as the company. In figures, some eighty graduates have been hired by the Kiton group (and other students have found work in other companies), lowering the average age of employees from 57 then to 48 now.

The ceremony was attended by Maria Giovanna Paone, president of Kiton, Silverio Paone, headmaster of the Scuola di Alta Sartoria and head of production activities, Raffaella Paone, head of Human Resources, Federico Cozzolino, vice headmaster of the Scuola di Alta Sartoria, and Pasquale Pelliccia, Kiton production quality director, both members of the School's examination committee..

Since 2000, when it was founded by Ciro Paone, Kiton's Haute Couture School has been conceived as an identity project with a social vocation: the course is totally free of charge, reserved for young people aged between 16 and 21, who are given a refund for expenses and lunch in the company canteen. Ttaught by the company's master tailors, it is divided into a three-year course: in the first two years the students devote themselves to the entire cycle of making the jacket, the heart of Kiton's sartorial art; in the third year they specialise in a specific phase of production, delving into the company's distinctive tailoring method. Over the years, the School has established itself as a point of reference for sartorial training in Italy and around the world, as demonstrated also by its partnership with the Triennale, resulting in a travelling project in Milan and Paris. The new training cycle will start in October 2025.