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At the end of 2019 (before the world ground to a halt), I took a trip to Italy to visit our factories and suppliers. As the production manager at Kirrin Finch, it is my job to bring all of the design ideas into reality. One of the best parts of my job is to go and see where the magic happens. I wanted to take this opportunity to give you the inside scoop!
Mention Italy, and it evokes thoughts of delicious pastas, romantic cobble stone plazas, timeless architecture and FASHION. Italians have been leading the charge down the runways for years. It runs in their blood, just as much as the caffeine in their 10 cups of coffee a day. So, as we embarked upon a journey to bring you the highest quality suiting, it is no wonder that we chose to product our formal wear in Italy. Let me take you for a little spin around so you can see for yourself, minus the jet lag.
First stop, the factory floor at our Georgie suiting factory in Naples! One of the main reasons for this journey was to speak with the pattern makers and our development team at our “Georgie” Suiting factory to fine tune the fit prior to our release of the Georgie suits.
Navy Georgie Suit Blazer
When we decided to tackle ready to wear suits, our ultimate goal was to figure out how to make the fit work for as many folks as possible- no small task. Together, with our factory we scrutinized each piece inch by inch, adding here, taking away from there to bring you the best suit possible. (With lots of coffee mixed in of course!)
Kelly with the master tailor adjusting the fit of the blazer
But the reality is, lots of different types of bodies exist. So luckily, we added in lots of details you usually see in custom garments to make sure you could take these garments to have them altered easily. For example, we decided on an adjustable waistband and adjustable bottom hem of the Georgie Suits. In fact, the suit pants can be taken to your local tailor to be “let out” by 2 ½ inches! These little details give you flexibility so you can fine tone the suit to fit your body without having to purchase a custom suit.
Georgie dress pants in navy and black
Figuring out the fit of our garments is obviously important but meeting the people and observing the facilities is equally important to us. At Kirrin Finch, we are committed to making sure the apparel you purchase is made ethically and the teams we work with really “get it”. Let me tell you, we really lucked out with our manufacturers in Italy!
Every garment runs down a production line with each worker mastering one step in the process. This ensures each piece of the garment is uniform and perfect. Along the way, these workers make sure your suit is getting all of the TLC it needs to keep you looking your best. Fun fact: One of the things that increases the quality of a suit’s construction is the number of times in the production process it is pressed. By pressing the garment along the production line it keeps everything neat and tidy so your suit comes out looking top notch!t
Creating a garment is a bit like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece is a little bit different, but they come together to create something magical. As your suit makes its way around the factory floor, it starts to take shape. Some steps are done by hand, while others are completed by specialized machines. Once it all comes together, it is a work of art that so many people had a hand in creating!
The longest working employee at our Georgie Suit Factory
When the garment is complete, it makes one last stop in the pressing department and then it is off to its final inspection with the quality control team. Once it gets the green light, it is placed into boxes and shipped to the Kirrin Finch office in Brooklyn so it can make its way to you!
Our Georgie suiting factory has been making suits for some of the best brands across Europe and the United States, and obviously we selected them for their craftmanship, but one of my favorite things about this factory, is that it is owned and run by a husband and wife duo. They not only “get” the mission behind Kirrin Finch, but they also embrace it. Ohhh, and that they appreciate quality suiting just as much as quality food…I mean it is Italy after all!
Now that you have a better sense of our suit production, let’s head up North to a city just outside of Florence called Prato. Prato started making fabrics centuries ago. But the coolest thing; is that they’ve been recycling textiles long before the word green meant more than a color.
Prato continues to be a hub of manufacturing and where we bring many of our fabrics to life, most notably our tweeds for those herringbone blazers you all love!
Our fabric starts off as yarn spun around cones stored in a large warehouse. Once we decide the composition of the fabric we are going to weave, it is placed on to large looms where the single threads are woven together to create what will become fabric. Eventually that fabric is dyed in large vats called“dye lots” to create the color of the fabric. Finally, it makes its way down the road to a massive warehouse known as a finishing plant. Here the fabric goes through a series of steps to wash and soften it. Once that step is complete, it gets shipped off to the factory to be turned into a garment.
Here is Kelly at the finishing plant with the navy and gray recycled herringbone fabrics that are used to make our tweed herringbone blazers.
Prato is also where Lorella our Italian master helps coordinate all of our Italian production. Like many in the area, she grew up going to visit her father in the factories after school. She is our “heels on the ground” and our Italian Nona. Coordinating shipments, sourcing new fabric, conducting quality control, and determining the best factories to work with, she keeps the wheels spinning and the suits coming!
Prato is also where Lorella our Italian master helps coordinate all of our Italian production. Like many in the area, she grew up going to visit her father in the factories after school. She is our “heels on the ground” and our Italian Nona. Coordinating shipments, sourcing new fabric, conducting quality control, and determining the best factories to work with, she keeps the wheels spinning and the suits coming!
Lastly, let’s venture over to meet our family owned shirting factory. Damiano, his mother and brother opened their factory on the coast and have been mastering their craft as a family for years together. A suit is only as good as the shirt you put underneath it, so lucky for us we are in good hands with Damiano and his team!
Wondering what’s coming next from our Italian suiting line? Well we've got plum and blue plaid three piece suits and herringbone vests in the works. Stay tuned!
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