Once the exclusive maker of neckwear under the Brioni label, Italian tie maker Italo Ferretti also fashions fine neckwear under its own label using printed silk fabrics designed in-house. The 66-year-old tie brand from Silvi Marina (in the same Abruzzo region of Italy where Brioni is based) also holds two patents for the unusual construction methods used to create its ties. To make the fabric hang straight, Ferretti inserts a tiny weight into the tip of the neck of the tie, while a moveable loop on the back can be affixed to a shirt button to hold it in place. Each Italo Ferretti tie is also hand numbered inside to identify the pattern, and it incorporates double stitching at the center of the tie to prevent bunching under the collar and to help preserve the shape after multiple knottings. Already well-known for producing one of the best ties in the world, this year the company also introduced G8 L’Aquila, a collection of premium silk neckties in custom silk boxes made for world leaders at last year’s G8 summit meeting in Italy and now available in limited quantities to top clients.
Inside Information
Look for a hidden repeating polka-dot pattern found on most Italo Ferretti ties. “Every design is an elaboration of a polka dot,” explains Ferretti’s son Carlo, who, along with his father and his younger brothers, Giacomo and Federico, now collectively oversees the family business. “It isn’t necessarily a classic polka dot but every design has a kind of polka-dot signature because my father has always been in love with polka dots,” he says.
