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“Maurizio, you have to prove that you can do important things by staying in Naples, but above all by staying in Naples”. The legacy of Eugenio Marinella, king of the world ties, passes through this recommendation to his nephew Maurizio, current owner of the Marinella ties brand. A story of roots, passion, exported Neapolitanity, delivered to the world and literally “worn” by the most influential people of the globe. Politicians, heads of state, characters of the international show. At the neck more than a tie: a symbol of elegance, luxury, tradition of great Italian tailoring.
Piazza Vittoria n. 287, Naples: from here begins the story of one of the most famous and expensive clothing items in the world. A small shop of twenty square meters, the dream realized by Eugenio Marinella. We are in 1914: the First World War rages out, with its violence, its tragedies; inside a craftsman and his patience. Grandfather Eugenio puts that patience in his suitcase and starts traveling all over Europe to recruit the best shirt makers. From Paris he takes them to Naples and there, between carriages and promenades of nobles and ladies, grows the brand that has become legend. From shirts to ties for contagion of international fashion. The rudder of the company passes into the hands of his son Luigi first and his nephew Maurizio then. Life in Piazza Vittoria has changed: there are no more horses, pompous clothes, war. But Marinella ties continues to open the shutter at six thirty every morning, including Sundays, and to put in every single piece produced the same quality and passion that led to success the “shop” of Eugenio Marinella, 104 years ago. Maurizio thinks big, as a child doing homework between ties and “breathe the smell of the shop” to promote the internationalization of the brand. Today Marinella ties has opened its business in Rome, Milan, London, San Francisco, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
The small historical and elegant environment in Riviera di Chiaia welcomes the most prestigious faces of the world of politics and entertainment. Between marble and mahogany have passed Vittorio De Sica, Marcello Mastroianni, and even Totò, a permanent guest at the store, who took lessons to learn how to make the bow tie. In the eighties the unmistakable style of Marinella ties strikes Francesco Cossiga, at that time President of the Republic, who becomes the most important exporter of the Made in Italy product: he takes the habit of bringing as a gift to the Heads of State, in their official visits, a box containing five Marinella ties. The little shop of Piazza Vittoria dressed up, over time, all the Italian and the USA presidents, Kennedy family in primis. The most demanding politician? Certainly Silvio Berlusconi who comes to order up to 700 at a time, as on the occasion of the G7: at the table of decisions of the great of the Earth also sat the Marinella ties. A day like so many, in the London office, enter eight mysterious people: they choose and put aside 4 ties. The next day eight other mysterious people ask to view the previous 4 choices and select 2. The scene is repeated on the third day: the final choice falls on a tie, ordered in 24 copies: it will be the one that James Bond, the 007 agent would then be wearing in Skyfall. Like every self-respecting woman even the Duchess of Cornwall chooses ties for her man: Camilla arrived in the store with a ceremonial prepared three months earlier to carefully select the gift for Prince Carlo: Marinella ties, from the nobles of the twentieth century to the nobles of the new millennium. A brand that never goes out of fashion, to the point of earning a place among the “works of art”: four models of Marinella ties were, in fact, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2017, as part of the exhibition Items: is fashion modern?
Marinella ties: luxury craftsmanship still handmade by Neapolitan seamstresses
Italian excellence is recognized above all by quality and Maurizio Marinella does not transpose. The Marinella ties are still produced as when to supervise were the experienced eyes of the founder Eugenio. In the workshop of Piazza Vittoria a real “dream team” of the tie is at work: a group of Neapolitan seamstresses who still do everything by hand. 150 ties are packaged every day, compared to a request for 900 pieces, according to the good English standard of “Less is more”: less products, more quality. The various models, more than a thousand, start from the base with seven folds: the fabric is folded seven times to ensure greater consistency and heaviness, so the tie stays firm in place and decorum and elegance are guaranteed. As far as prints and patterns are concerned, we move from the most classic to the most imaginative colours, from the florets to the most gaudy or exotic patterns. Each model is distinguished by a serial number, designed to be a unique piece, because everything starts from the personalization of the offer. The client’s desire must be realized, first of all. The Marinella ties of Naples are the symbol of Italian craftsmanship in the world, and allow space for technology only in the commercial department, where telephones and PCs are constantly working to collect the many orders and ship the products in the four corners of the Planet.
Wearing a Marinella tie is a luxury. The Made in Naples product is placed in the window of the most expensive items of Italian origin, those reserved for special occasions and pockets. The prices of the Marinella ties range from 80 to over 200 euros. A cost that not everyone can afford or, at least, not always. One more reason to be infinitely fascinated by the world of Marinella ties. A coveted prize for savers who dream of wearing one, an unexpected gift for important goals. Marinella has achieved success by combining tradition and fashion wisely: the ties models in the catalogue reflect the main trends of the last century, in style, shape and colours. Then there are also the “special” ties, such as the stain-resistant, designed to slide away the sketches and preserve the elegance even during the most “dangerous” meals, an idea abandoned by Maurizio Marinella due to the lack of softness that the silk transmitted used. On all stands, instead, the anti jella tie, flagship of the Neapolitan tailoring boutique: a small red cornicello (the Italian amulet worn to protect against bad luck in general) sewn inside the lining to conquer the heart of the most superstitious, Neapolitan first of all, but also many tourists.
Marinella, not only ties: the accessories to dress the elegant man of the new millenniumOver the years the production of the Marinella brand has diversified: in addition to ties, shirts, dresses, shoes, bags, watches, accessories, cufflinks, even perfumes are made. And even the women wanted a small space dedicated, after the many reproaches to the husbands who were returning from shopping to the Marinella maison. In short, here it is possible to find everything that is needed for a man who wants to make elegance an imperative of life, even in an age when the “classic” is often considered “old”, “exceeded”. Maurizio Marinella has made a real miracle in the fashion world, so frenetic and changeable. A knot to the tie, but also a knot at the time, to crystallize in every single product the importance of those Neapolitan roots that have characterized the birth and development of the company. Today there are seven showrooms, eleven corners in the most prestigious department stores in the world and other upcoming openings in the program. In the small shop of Marinella Naples, there on the Riviera di Chiaia, a stone’s throw from the sea, everything remained as it was, even the line at Christmas, with the distribution of coffee and sfogliatelle to waiting customers. Going there, at number 287 of Piazza Vittoria, means still immerging yourself today in a history made first of all by men. And it is to the men of every age that grandfather Eugenio thought when he chose to invest in this dream, perhaps thinking of the words of the French writer Honoré de Balzac: “The tie is the man; it is through it that man reveals and manifests himself. To get to know a man, it is enough to glance at this part of him that unites the head to the chest.” By going through the heart, we would add, the same put to create every single tie signed Marinella.
Read also: The History of the Fendi Sisters, all-female excellence
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