Santillo 1970

Like many of the best clothing houses, Santillo 1970 is the antithesis of fast fashion, largely shunning machines in favour of hand-cutting, sewing and finishing. That's how it's always been done, too; Angela Lemma founded the brand in Calabria in 1968 on those principles, passing the company down through the family in order to preserve the techniques and not compromise on quality. Now based in Catanzaro, Lemma's children and a select number of skilled artisans work on Santillo 1970, creating shirts that range from formalwear to casual polos, often inspired by the brand's rich archive. The signature feature of a Santillo shirt is the "punto a barchetta", a technique which involves restitching the armhole after the sides have been sewn to reinforce and add softness to the most vulnerable part of the shirt.