Satriano Cinque: de l'Ero shirts

SIMON CROMPTON

Thursday 22nd of March 2012

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Vico Satriano is a lovely little Neapolitan street. Cobbles; wrought-iron balconies; ancient wooden doorways. And at the end a view of the bay, running out over sun-tipped waves to Capri.

It’s hardly unique, though. Naples is woven with such cobbled streets, populated by a mix of slow pedestrians and fast scooters. No, what makes Vico Satriano significant is house number five, an old stone building leading to an open courtyard, featuring, on the ground floor, the door of a shirtmaker: Satriano Cinque.

As a brand Satriano Cinque is quite new, having been set up by Gabriella de L’Ero in 2008 when she split from her partner in the relatively well-known shirt maker Merolla e de L’Ero. Gabriella has expanded, doing more women’s shirts and clothes (she is a designer and stylist, not a tailor) with the men’s shirts being run by long-time partner Luca Avitabile.

Indeed, it is a little off-putting when you first step through the little stone doorway. You are confronted with silk blouses, oversized linen scarves and bright sweaters. There is not a male garment to be seen.

Then, with relief, you hear the reassuring sound of shears from upstairs. Down comes Luca, who cuts his patterns on a little mezzanine above the main showroom. He takes us through the adjoining room, where there are stacked bolts of blue-hued cloth and shirts waiting to be collected. The silky Carlo Riva cottons are prominent, but so are linen/cotton mixes and scores of sample collars and cuffs.

Satriano Cinque’s shirts are made by a team of six tailors in a workshop in San Giuseppe Vesuviano, outside Naples. Luca cuts in the city studio, including individually designing each client’s collar, and assembles basted fittings. Generally shirts require one fitting, at least for the first order, and sometimes two. They comprise the front and back panels, one sleeve, and an imitation collar in linen to give an idea of shape.

“The collar is very important, perhaps the most important thing on a shirt,” in Luca’s opinion. “So we work with styles and then cut each one specifically for a man. It must fit the face exactly.” The cuffs also include a house speciality – the conical cuff, which narrows towards the hand to ensure a particularly close fit, for men who want as little slippage as possible.

“And while we make a Neapolitan style, we prefer a clean shoulder to the shirt,” explains Luca. “So although we place just as much importance on a high armhole, and working in the sleevehead by hand, the excess cloth is at the bottom.” This contrasts with some shirtmakers in Naples, who take pride in the number of ripples streaming from the top of the sleeve.

Other hand work in the Satriano Cinque shirts includes the buttonholes, buttons, shoulder seam, front placket and collar seam. More than any English maker; but less than some Neapolitan brands, who will also hand sew the side seams and hand roll the bottom edges.

“The most important thing for me is the cut of the shirt, not the hand stitching,” says Luca. “We include the elements we think functionally necessary, plus a few extras like the buttonholes.” The difference in work is also reflected in the price. Satriano Cinque shirts take around three weeks to make and prices start at €180. Riva shirts start at €250.

Both Luca and Gabriella come from families of shirt makers. Luca is third generation, training with his father and grandfather when he was young, while Gabriella’s uncle was a shirt maker. Both families ran small, local companies making for Neapolitan clients, and making largely by machine.

The company makes for Marinella, for Solito and for our own inestimable Michael Drake. Luca visits Milan once a month, taking appointments in Marinella’s store there. He also visited London last November, again at Marinella, and plans to do so more regularly. He will be very welcome.

Photography: Luke Carby

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Featuring	Satriano Cinque: de l'Ero shirts SIMON CROMPTON Thursday 22nd of March 2012 0 Comments Tweet Vico Satriano is a lovely little Neapolitan street. Cobbles; wrought-iron balconies; ancient wooden doorways. And at the end a view of the bay, running out over sun-tipped waves to Capri. It’s hardly unique, though. Naples is woven with such cobbled streets, populated by a mix of slow pedestrians and fast scooters. No, what makes Vico Satriano significant is house number five, an old stone building leading to an open courtyard, featuring, on the ground floor, the door of a shirtmaker: Satriano Cinque. As a brand Satriano Cinque is quite new, having been set up by Gabriella de L’Ero in 2008 when she split from her partner in the relatively well-known shirt maker Merolla e de L’Ero. Gabriella has expanded, doing more women’s shirts and clothes (she is a designer and stylist, not a tailor) with the men’s shirts being run by long-time partner Luca Avitabile. Indeed, it is a little off-putting when you first step through the little stone doorway. You are confronted with silk blouses, oversized linen scarves and bright sweaters. There is not a male garment to be seen. Then, with relief, you hear the reassuring sound of shears from upstairs. Down comes Luca, who cuts his patterns on a little mezzanine above the main showroom. He takes us through the adjoining room, where there are stacked bolts of blue-hued cloth and shirts waiting to be collected. The silky Carlo Riva cottons are prominent, but so are linen/cotton mixes and scores of sample collars and cuffs. Satriano Cinque’s shirts are made by a team of six tailors in a workshop in San Giuseppe Vesuviano, outside Naples. Luca cuts in the city studio, including individually designing each client’s collar, and assembles basted fittings. Generally shirts require one fitting, at least for the first order, and sometimes two. They comprise the front and back panels, one sleeve, and an imitation collar in linen to give an idea of shape. “The collar is very important, perhaps the most important thing on a shirt,” in Luca’s opinion. “So we work with styles and then cut each one specifically for a man. It must fit the face exactly.” The cuffs also include a house speciality – the conical cuff, which narrows towards the hand to ensure a particularly close fit, for men who want as little slippage as possible. “And while we make a Neapolitan style, we prefer a clean shoulder to the shirt,” explains Luca. “So although we place just as much importance on a high armhole, and working in the sleevehead by hand, the excess cloth is at the bottom.” This contrasts with some shirtmakers in Naples, who take pride in the number of ripples streaming from the top of the sleeve. Other hand work in the Satriano Cinque shirts includes the buttonholes, buttons, shoulder seam, front placket and collar seam. More than any English maker; but less than some Neapolitan brands, who will also hand sew the side seams and hand roll the bottom edges. “The most important thing for me is the cut of the shirt, not the hand stitching,” says Luca. “We include the elements we think functionally necessary, plus a few extras like the buttonholes.” The difference in work is also reflected in the price. Satriano Cinque shirts take around three weeks to make and prices start at €180. Riva shirts start at €250. Both Luca and Gabriella come from families of shirt makers. Luca is third generation, training with his father and grandfather when he was young, while Gabriella’s uncle was a shirt maker. Both families ran small, local companies making for Neapolitan clients, and making largely by machine. The company makes for Marinella, for Solito and for our own inestimable Michael Drake. Luca visits Milan once a month, taking appointments in Marinella’s store there. He also visited London last November, again at Marinella, and plans to do so more regularly. He will be very welcome. Photography: Luke Carby 0 Comments LEAVE A REPLY Name (required): E-Mail (will not be published) (required): Website (optional): Security Code (required): Messages (required): No HTML allowed. URLs will be linked with nofollow attribute. Whitespace is preserved. You might also like: The tale of two Piccolos The new Rubinacci store: Photos The new Rubinacci store, Naples Best of Britannia In the beginning Loro Piana made-to-measure knitwear What the average Englishman was wearing Kent Haste and Lachter: The best value on JM Weston's New Flagship on Jermyn Street Skyfall, Daniel Craig and Omega Sotheby’s publishes incredibly stylish music video Amber Lounge Omega Planet Ocean 600M: For Men Ensuring the	Disclaimer: The individual copyrights for all the songs featured in this playlist are not owned by The Rake. This playlist is purely for streaming purposes and downloading of the songs through this website is prohibited. If you wish to purchase any of these songs, please visit www.apple.com/itunes.