ACHILLE MANNARA: A CLASSIC NEAPOLITAN CAMICERIA

Achille Mannara is a classic Neapolitan shirtmaker, offering a range of handmade, bespoke shirting and off the rack options to a discerning, international client base. The camiceria was founded in 1995 and, over the years, has grown their exquisite product range to include various handmade silk ties and accessories to complement their legendary shirts.

In the world of bespoke shirtmaking, there are few regions which evoke a sense of artisanal quality and craftsmanship that stand above all others. Alongside London’s Jermyn Street, Naples has emerged as one of the great epicentres of the trade, with a sartorial tailoring history that dates back nearly one thousand years.

The unique ecosystem that exists in and around this ancient Italian city, from fabric mills and textile manufacturers to cutters and designers, has marked Naples out as one of the great global destinations for customers seeking the best in tailoring and shirting. Tailoring and sartorial houses of all sizes, big and small, are dotted across the landscape – a tradition common to the entirety of the Italian peninsula, ensuring that these time-honoured techniques are handed down and preserved.

It is from this tradition that Achille Mannara, a Neapolitan by birth, began to design and create shirts to commission in 1995. Mannara served as the Director of Production at another legendary Neapolitan house, Luigi Borrelli, whilst also serving a coterie of personal clients who sought out his skills in shirtmaking. Having garnered a reputation for excellence and attention to detail, he opened a full-service manufactory under his own name in Nocera Inferiore, between Pompei and Salerno in the southern reaches of the Naples metropolitan region, in 2007. The eponymous Mannara atelier has grown significantly since with the firm having hired a number of staff to service their ever increasing customer base.

The Mannara house offers customers bespoke shirts made to highly customisable specifications with a broad array of quality materials and fabrics to chose from. Mannara’s team can cater to any request and are very familiar with cutting shirts in the English-style as well as the traditional Neapolitan style, depending on the customer’s preferences. The atelier can also produce casual apparel, including overshirts, chore jackets and safari jackets, as well as manufacturing their own house ties and accessories. Their signature includes the use of silk threading throughout and mother of pearl or coral buttons to finish.

Recently, the Achille Mannara atelier has also produced some custom blazers and dinner jackets, bringing a tailoring offer to their suite of sartorial services.

Mannara and his team are happy to meet with clients at home in the region, however the firm does not, typically, travel to meet with international clients or host trunk shows. Nonetheless, they do have a large international customer base and are happily able to ship to regular customers, once a relationship has been established and that client’s dimensions and preferences are known to the firm.

The house maintains a boutique on Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle II which is open to walk-in customers are those looking to have a browse, and if you are in Naples to do some shopping or, perhaps, to have a shirt made to your exact specifications, we strongly recommend you call in. Alternatively, keep an eye on vintage online retailers where you’ll find a mix of pre-owned and, occasionally, new pieces for sale (including on eBay).

Are you an Achille Mannara customer? If so we would love to hear from you and to learn about your experience with this brand? Or perhaps you have another Neapolitan shirtmaker that you would like to recommend?

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