Most Italian menswear is worth buying. Very little of it is worth buying at full price. The difference is whether the price pays for something you can see and feel in the garment, or mostly for the name and the boutique rent on Via Montenapoleone.
Six names, sorted by that test.
Brioni: worth it, if it fits
Brioni was founded in Rome in 1945 and still makes its tailoring by hand in Penne, in Abruzzo, where it runs its own tailoring school. A Brioni suit is about as close as ready-to-wear gets to bespoke: soft construction, a high armhole, a shoulder that follows yours instead of squaring it off.
The condition is fit. A Brioni that fits off the rack is a pleasure for decades. One that needs heavy alteration is a very expensive starting point.
The Brioni Brunico herringbone wool suit in green is $3,338.94, down from $8,561.38. Green herringbone is a country cloth, better at an autumn wedding or a long lunch than in a boardroom, which is part of why it is marked down. If the shoulders fit, it is a suit nobody else in the room will be wearing.
The Brioni desert jacket in navy, $1,732.28 from $4,441.74, is the easier buy. Navy goes over knitwear, over a shirt, over odd trousers on a Friday. The Brioni cotton shirt in navy, $504.64 from $1,501.24, is the hardest to justify. It is a fine shirt, but at $500 a shirt is still a shirt.
Verdict: full price only for tailoring you will wear for twenty years, and only once you know your size in the house cut. Everything else on markdown.
Zegna: worth it for the cloth
Ermenegildo Zegna began as a wool mill in Trivero, in the hills above Biella, in 1910, and the company still weaves its own fabric. That is the argument for Zegna. A Zegna coat is cloth from one of the best mills in the world, made up by the same company that wove it. Oasi Zegna is the nature reserve the family established around Trivero, and the name carries over to this cashmere.
The Zegna Oasi cashmere coat in navy is $3,032.69, down from $9,189.97, a 67% cut. A navy cashmere overcoat is the most useful coat a man can own. It goes over a suit, over a sweater and jeans, to a funeral and to dinner.
Pure cashmere outerwear is very warm for its weight. It also pills at friction points, the inside of the arms and under a bag strap, and wants a soft brush after wearing. Size it for a suit jacket underneath: shoulder seams at the edge of your shoulder with the jacket on, sleeves long enough to cover the jacket cuff.
Verdict: this coat at 67% off is the best buy on the list. Zegna at full retail earns it on coats and suits, less so on logo knitwear and sneakers.
Corneliani and Tod's: buy on markdown
Corneliani is a tailoring house from Mantua, founded in 1958, with real factory skill and a softer, more modern cut than Brioni. Its retail prices sit near the top tier. Its markdowns are among the deepest in Italian clothing.
The Corneliani long-sleeve cotton polo in gray is $126.12, from $630.59, which is 80% off. At that price it is an excellent knitted polo for autumn layering. At $630 it was hard to recommend.
Verdict on Corneliani: never full price. On sale, it is one of the best value names in Italian menswear.
Tod's follows the same rule. The house built its name on one shoe, the Gommino driving moccasin. It is comfortable from the first wear and limited by design: the pebble sole is for the car, not for miles of pavement.
The anthracite nubuck Gommino is $357.62 from $1,117.57. Sizing, care and what to wear with it are in the Tod's Gommino review.
Verdict on Tod's: worth it at a markdown. Hard to defend at $1,100.
Velasca: worth full price
Velasca is a Milan company that sells direct, without a wholesale markup between the workshop and you, and has its shoes made in the Marche. That model is the point. The price already sits closer to what the shoe costs to make, so there is less room for discounts and less reason to wait for them.
The Velasca Maester penny loafer is smooth calf, made in Italy, at $500. The Velasca Sestriere cashmere turtleneck in dark gray melange, made in Italy, is $560. Neither is cheap. Both are priced for what they are.
The turtleneck under a navy jacket, with the Maester loafers and a cognac belt, is the core of the night out look.
Verdict: full price is fair. Waiting for a sale here is mostly waiting.
Viola Milano: the sale price is the price
Viola Milano makes ties and accessories in Italy from silk and cashmere woven in Como, and runs a factory sale much of the year. The black grenadine garza grossa tie is $91.20: Como silk in the large open weave, unlined, three-fold, with hand-rolled edges. A black grenadine goes with every suit you own and every shirt except a black one.
The navy cashmere tie is $114, 49% off. It is the tie for flannel, tweed and knitwear, with a matte surface that silk cannot match.
Verdict: buy at the sale price, which is most of the time.
The rule
Pay full price for what you can see and feel: tailoring that fits, coats in top cloth, shoes from a maker who sells direct. Wait for the markdown on anything where the name is most of the price: shirts, polos, logo goods.
Current markdowns on all six names are in the deals, and the Italian-made pieces are grouped on the Italia page. For a way to wear the cheaper end of this list to work, see what to wear to a client lunch.
The pieces
The best markdowns, before they sell out.