Neapolitan tailoring company Isaia celebrates 60 years with new looks and a book

The renaissance of men’s bespoke and made-to-measure tailoring in recent years has helped Italian tailors, particularly those from the southern port city of Naples, to garner international success and influence.

One of the several dozen invariably family-run Neapolitan tailoring companies, Isaia is celebrating its 60th anniversary. For this, Isaia is launching a commemorative book this week, but it’s not the typical fashion coffee table book according to president and CEO Gianluca Isaia.

“It’s a book about hand gestures,” says Isaia explaining that the subtlety and nuance of Neapolitan hand gestures can be impenetrable to outsiders, and even to other Italians. “We talk with our hands in Naples so we thought it would be playful, ironic and self-referential,” he adds.

Isaia, 54, says the bookis a reflection of Naples – he’s as keen to promote the city as his tailoring business – the two are indelibly linked. The red coral used for the company’s logo, for example, is considered lucky in Naples.

“We are very proud of Naples, and its tradition and history in tailoring. Naples is where the unlined jacket was born,” says Isaia.