BRANDS / SARTORIALEE SELECTS / ITALY / GUTTERIDGE

GutteridgeDal1878
Napoli Married

Arguably one of the reasons why your average Italian on the street looks so effortlessly good, is the presence of high street brand Gutteridge

Conceived in the sartorial hotbed of Napoli in the 1870s by a Scotsman, no less, who traded his kilt for the land of rope-shouldered tailoring. Suffering poor health, the young Scot Michael Gutteridge, escaped the wind chills of his motherland to warm his cockles in the milder Neapolitan air. Although somewhat of an unknown quantity himself, Gutteridge had married well, tying the knot with the daughter of wealthy wool tycoon Sir Simon Cook. Cash-rich courtesy of his wife’s dowry, he opens his first store in the city’s iconic Piazza Dante in April 1878.

Gutteridge finds himself immersed in a flourishing cotton textiles trade, and with the support of his father-in-law, the main producer of wool in Scotland at the time, Gutteridge starts to import the trusty yarns, transforming them in to dashing knits that fly off the shelves. Business booms, so much so that he moves in to a new store on the busy and affluent Via Toledo in the heart of Napoli. It is this shop, located within historic Palazzo Stigliano, and home to Caravaggio’s last recorded work that Gutteridge is affirmed as a true Neapolitan institution.

The chain continues to offer refined and sophisticated attire for the modern man to this very day, but with high street affordability. You get what you pay for, we’re not talking premium product here with longevity at these prices. However, highlights for me are the mainstays that straddle the seasons so well: well cut blazers around the €100 mark, off the peg spread-collar shirts that fit like bespoke are a steal at sub-€50, and the decorative scarves – E. Marinella they are not but they do a pretty good job masquerading as such. Ties and shoes are a bit hit and miss, but you can’t have everything.

With more than 30 boutiques in all the main sartorial epicentres of Italy, Gutteridge represents one of the most important brands on the rise in the domestic market. Targeting the modern man intent on still looking sharp, while at the same time, mindful of the impact on his wallet. I think Sartorialee is that customer.

LINK: gutteridge.it
Photo credit: Gutteridge, Via Della Vigna, Florence @sartorialee