Napoli stands for Kiton, Isaia, Pompeii

A two days trip to Napoli finally came to an end, hours of bus ride was not exactly the best part of it, but I'm glad I came through with the help of a mp3, a book and a couple of fags in between.

Our visit to Kiton and Isaia's factories didn't bring up much of anything new, the usually "all hand stitched except the length along the back", "the coral is our signature for these reasons.1.2.3...", "it took this many hours just to make the shirt..." la di ya di da. But it was nice to walk around there factories. ("NICE" being THE  most ambiguous word in any dictionary).

Basting sample at the tailoring school of Kiton.

Isaia's factory and their coral symbol.

Kiton's founder Mr. Ciro Paone was for sure the most amazing treat during this entire trip, he was the most adorable old gentleman, he not only treated us to lunch, but sat with us the whole time, reminding me of my very own grandpa...

Mr. Ciro Paone had a stroke four years ago leaving him with limited speech and ability to walk. His daughter assists him in most places and she is the only one who could fully understand what his thoughts are and is trying to say in an instant. He still comes into the office every day at around 1pm and administers all areas of the business till late afternoon. It's hard to imagine what kind of dedication this must be, but then again, Kiton is his life's work, something he had built up from the very foundations of this renown luxury company.

Now, Pompeii was a sidetrack. A few years back I remember myself being absolutely fascinated by its history, its landscape, and its ruins. Going to exhibition in Sydney and borrowing books on the subject in the central library of Auckland city... Everything. I even saw a short film made to visually reconstruct the happenings of that fatal incident. Seeing the place in person was just amazing, even though I did wish there were more volcano dust and dead bodies (just kidding...). However, our little "personal guide" wasn't too familiar with the place apparently, so after 2 and an half hours of running along, we missed all the important sights: the bath house, the back gardens of the riches back then, the market... I almost fainted! But, no place to complain, too bad I just went along with everything thinking that for once I could lay back and enjoy. Too bad...