Whether it’s an important meeting, a formal event, or a special occasion, a well-cut quality suit is an investment in confidence and taste, as these eight brands show.
Few items of clothing exude authority and style like an expertly tailored suit. Whether it’s from a historic Parisian tailor house like Cifonelli, or a modern luxury brand like Tom Ford, a well-cut suit is a luxury staple that elevates you in both confidence and stature. Unlike flashy designer goods, a bespoke suit carries an air of subtle elegance: it shows but doesn’t tell; it impresses without imposing.
Best Luxury Suit Brands
Tailor-made suits are the product of years of training, and if you have the means, they are absolutely worth dipping deeper into your pockets for. After all, these items are immune to the fashion cycle, and a well-stitched suit will hold its shape for decades if you take care of it. If you’re ready to make this sartorial investment, here are eight of the most reputed (and expensive) brands.
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Brioni
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from: you’ve seen a Brioni suit, because they've been dressing Hollywood screens and stars for decades, most famously James Bond. Founded in Rome in 1945, this Italian suit maker blazed its way to the top in post-war Europe with its exceptional tailoring and quality. 220 people are involved in making a Brioni suit to ensure that every ensemble fits like a second skin and retains its shape and quality for decades. The most expensive Brioni suit ever sold was the Brioni Vanquish II collection, which sold for $43,000 apiece (there were 100 in the collection). Ready-to-wear suits in the lower price range cost around $6,000.
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Kiton
Another Italian suit maker, Kiton brings comfortable Neapolitan tailoring to luxury materials such as vicuña, baby cashmere, silk and ultra-thin micron wool. This luxury brand was founded in Naples in 1968 and is known for making suits that are sophisticated and meticulously crafted, yet elegantly understated. Kiton suits use light padding and the signature spalla camicia shoulder shape, which can appear more slimming and natural looking than the bulkier shoulder shapes seen with traditional British tailoring styles.
The most expensive Kiton suit is the $60,000 K50, which is made exclusively by one of Kiton’s five most senior tailors, such as master tailor Enzo D’Orsi. Ready-to-wear Kiton cashmere suits cost in the range of $7,000-$10,000. The highly bespoke nature of the K50 means that a very limited number are made each year, upon direct request.
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Desmond Merrion
West Yorkshire isn’t the first place we associate with fine tailoring and luxury, but it’s home to one of Britain’s best tailors, Desmond Merrion. Many of the suits cut by Merrion use cloth sourced from small merchants and mills in Yorkshire, which is one of the UK’s most historic textile-producing regions. Merrion is a truly bespoke tailor, cutting, stitching and pressing the full ensemble by hand.
The most expensive offering here is the Supreme Bespoke Couture, which starts at £50,000 excluding vat. This luxury suit is stitched entirely by hand by Merrion himself, and it’s woven with 24 carat gold and pure platinum stripes (no sewing machines will be found near this precious item). On the more affordable end of the spectrum at Desmond Merrion is the £1,250 made-to-measure suit, which the house describes as ‘semi’ bespoke.
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Cifonelli
One of the oldest luxury tailoring houses is Parisian brand Cifonelli, which first opened its doors in Rome in 1880. Today, the family-run business sits on the picturesque street of Rue Marbeuf in Paris, where 45 expert tailors hand-craft a few hundred suits every year. Couture creations cost upward of $7,000, while a three-piece wool suit from the ready-to-wear collection costs around $3,200. Cifonelli suits are distinguished by the iconic subtle roll at the top of the sleeve, creating a bold and defined silhouette. This Parisian tailor has an exclusive clientele that has included the likes of Fred Astaire, Lino Ventura, Josephine Baker, and the former French president, François Mitterand.
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Huntsman & Sons
Even older than Cifonelli is the iconic Huntsman & Sons, which was founded in 1849. This historic London tailor has been supplying British aristocracy and royalty since the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, alongside other historical figures like Winston Churchill, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Katharine Hepburn and more. Fans of Downton Abbey and the Kingsman movies will already be familiar with Huntsman clothing, since the company dressed various characters in the productions.
As the name suggests, Huntsman & Sons gained its reputation for providing quality hunting and riding attire, but it also makes exquisitely tailored suits. Ready-to-wear two-piece suits at this Savile Row tailor cost upward of £3,000, while bespoke suits like the ‘Bespoke 1849’ cost £6,600. The fully bespoke 1849 suits are made in-house on Savile Row and take up to eighteen weeks to finish. If you do commit to an 1849 piece, you’ll gain access to the exclusive Huntsman Club, which brings a range of privileges such as access to private events.
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Stefano Ricci
This Florentine brand (est. 1972) has a wide catalogue of luxury goods including ties, fragrances and leather goods, but best of all is the selection of bespoke suits. More than 200 different steps go into the making of every made-to-order Stefano Ricci suit, and there are 800 high-end fabrics to choose from. With more than 60 boutiques around the world, this luxury retailer is less exclusive than the likes of Huntsman or Cifonelli, but it still attracts some big names including Andrea Bocelli, Tom Cruise, and even Nelson Mandela. A ready-to-order cashmere two-piece suit at this Italian tailor costs up to $8,500.
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Tom Ford
Luxury fashion heavyweight Tom Ford established his eponymous brand in 2005 after stepping down as Creative Director at Gucci – a company he helped bring back from the brink of insolvency. An embodiment of modern American luxury, Tom Ford suits create a sharp and sleek silhouette, and they often come with bold colour options like electric blue. The two-piece fine poplin shelton suit costs $7,350, while the sharkskin shelton suit costs $5,150. Unique for a premium suit, the sharkskin two-piece has 2% stretchy elastane, ensuring maximum comfort and practicality for those who find traditional materials too restrictive.
Tom Ford is one of the newest luxury fashion houses, but it has been rapidly embraced by popular culture, exemplified by songs like Jay-Z’s Tom Ford and Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie – both of which pay homage to the excellence of Tom Ford clothing. This American fashion house also dressed Daniel Craig in the recent 007 film, No Time To Die.
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Isaia
Isaia quietly entered the luxury suit market in the roaring twenties in the undisputed city of fine tailoring – Napoli. The shop initially opened to supply quality fabrics to the town’s most renowned tailors, until founder Enrico Isaia opened a shop next door with his own expert craftsmen. Today, the brand is known for crafting suits that are fashionable yet classic; comfortable yet uncompromising on material. Isaia suits embody the best of classic Neapolitan tailoring: they are lightweight in construction, natural around the shoulder, and slightly shorter on the jacket, resulting in a stylish, flared look.
Isaia suits can be recognised by the small red coral logo – a symbol of strength and courage in Italy. Ready-to-order suits from Isaia cost around $5,000 and can be ordered from their website.
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Final Take
Tom Ford once said that dressing well is a form of good manners. Although dressing well doesn’t always have to be expensive (you can’t buy taste, after all), when it comes to a suit, the price tag very often corresponds to the quality of craftsmanship and material, rather than brand association. Whether you want to evoke the spirit of 007 and step into a classic Brioni, or splurge £50,000 on the hand-stitched Supreme Bespoke Couture three-piece from Desmond Merrion – you’ll be promised a timeless look that lasts decades.
