Pitti Immagine taps Kiton's Antonio De Matteis as its new president

On Thursday, Pitti Immagine's shareholders' meeting: the Florence-based Centro di Firenze per la moda italiana (CFMI) and Sistema moda Italia (SMI), was at its headquarters in Via Faenza, Florence. Following the recommendation of the board of directors of the Centro di Firenze per la moda italiana, the assembly appointed the Pitti Immagine board of directors for the 2023-2026 term of office.

Antonio De Matteis, CEO of Italian tailoring brand Kiton was appointed president and Antonella Mansi of chemical company SOL Group was confirmed as vice president.

In addition, Pitti CEO Raffaello Napoleone and businessman Niccolò Ricci were confirmed on the board and seven new directors were appointed: Giovanni Basagni, president at Miniconf fashion group, Stefano Borsini, general manager at yarn company Manifattura Igea, Ercole Botto Poala, managing director at Tessitura successori Reda S.p.a. and president at Confindustria Moda, and Niccolò Moschini, director of corporate communication and institutional relations at Kering Italy.

The last three new Pitti Imagine board members are Marco Landi, board member at outerwear label Landi and president at trade union Federmoda, Lorenzo Nencini, managing director at clothing company Incom SPA, and Marco Palmieri, president at leather goods company Piquadro.

Pitti Immagine names Antonella Mansi vice president

On behalf of the board and in a personal capacity, the release reads, the president of Cfmi then warmly thanked the outgoing president, Claudio Marenzi, and emphasised his determination in governing the company in such critical times and taking the necessary decisions to ensure its safety.

"But also the courage and alertness," vice president Antonella Mansi added, "in immediately transferring the promotional and commercial activities to the online platform, when everything was closed during the pandemic, bringing the company to international prominence when it comes to the integration of physical and digital fairs, as well as expanding Pitti Immagine's product portfolio".

Who is Antonio De Matteis

Antonio De Matteis, also known as 'Totò', is the CEO of the Kiton Group where he also serves as creative director of menswear. Born in Naples in 1964, he began his career at Kiton in 1986 under the watchful eye of his uncle Ciro Paone who is the founder and president of Kiton, a fashion house founded in Naples in 1968 .

In 1996, Antonio De Matteis acquired a 10 per cent stake in Ciro Paone S.p.A., the holding company of the Ciro Paone Group. 2007 was a milestone for De Matteis. Ciro Paone chose him to hold the position of managing director of the group, thereby allowing him to cement his central position in the definition of the brand's strategies.

In 2018, Antonio De Matteis gave impetus to the creation of Knt (Kiton new textures), the first collection signed by his sons, twins Mariano and Walter De Matteis, the third generation of the Kiton family.

In the last two years, Kiton has achieved a 60 per cent increase in turnover, amounting to 162 million euros.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.IT. Translation and editing from Italian into English: Veerle Versteeg.