Walking into a high-end retailer like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales or Nordstrom might make you assume they carry a lot of the top brand name designer ties, even the best neckties in the world. Would that be correct?
Shown: the Kiton sevenfold tie (all Kiton ties are sevenfold ties) and a Ermenegildo Zegna tie of the luxury Zegna 5-pieghe (5 fold) collection (most Zegna ties are a regular 3-fold tie).
Shown neckwear:
Stefano Ricci Tie, pleated silk necktie | Zilli Tie
The Zilli Paris neckties and Stefano Ricci (pleated silk) neckties (Stefano ricci also carries regular silk neckties) are great options for printed silk ties, mostly printed on 8,5cm/ 9cm and 9.5cm wider ties than the most popular 8cm width at the moment. Stefano Ricci has wonderful geometric prints and paisley designs, timeless. Zilli Paris designs are more versatile with some less common prints.
Best tie in the world, shop Zilli ties | Stefano Ricci ties
As department stores like to have an assortment of 5-10 brands of ties in various styles and price brackets, this might not always means these are the best neckties in the world. Barney's New York seemed to have more selective with having just a couple of styles of one brands as they just want the styles they like and not the whole assortment. However, Barney's New York (not in business anymore) brands seem to be more fashionable, cool, exclusive and hard to find, instead of just being the best (quality).
Compared to many other garments, relatively the necktie has kept its' exclusivity and quality, similar how it was made decades ago. While even high-end Italian shirt brands end up (especially for their sport shirts) in other countries to produce, the tie kept its' production in Italy.
To manufacture a high quality tie, which looks good, looks exclusive, makes a great knot and last for decades to come, experienced tailoring and knowledge is needed. Luxury brands like E. Marinella and Stefano Ricci still use hand printed silks of the best quality for their tie designs (hand printed silk in England). E. Marinella has been printing their silks for decades in England (Macclesfield), which result in many classic and stylish designs with very exclusive detail, exactly what the sartorialist and/ or bespoke shopper looks for.
The hand printing of silks is an art on its own, which only after years of R&D and decades of experience, seems to stay profitable for a few very experience UK companies. Only the most expensive tie brands can afford it. It adds immensely to the character of the tie company and their values. To top it of their silk is treated to minimize wrinkles and keep a tight knot (slightly sturdy feel to silk, prevents knot to loosen up ...). So with the best tie brands in the world you get fine quality and expertise tailoring at its' best, not just nice looking designs with a logo.
The Kiton sevenfold tie, a prestige hand made tie, retails over $300 in the USA. All Kiton tie are sevenfold ties. The only exceptions are a very limited square end knitted tie Kiton produces, sometimes under the Cipa 1960 brand. Kiton designs have lots of Italian heritage with many classic geometric prints, but also enough choice in a very wide range (including bright) colors.
Many men might consider the Kiton tie the best tie brand in the world!
Another amazing brand, not very well known by the general public, is E. Marinella. As E. Marinella is as classic Italian (Napoli) as it gets, their main focus is on quality instead of trendy fashion, and also are not known for intense advertising / marketing campaigns. The E. Marinella tie has always a classic yet surprising print, many less common color combinations and many typical Italian geometric designs. The silk is a little bit sturdy which makes a great knot (likely the best knot I have seen) and the knot will stay. All E. Marinella ties are hand cut and hand finished, in limited quantities, in Napoli, Italy. Shop E. Marinella.
Some customers stay with E. Marinella as their last tie resort for decades.
Barba Napoli is a consistent provider of classic Italian neckwear, sevenfold production, totally hand made, using mostly ver classic Italian prints, in many conservative yet unique designs/ colors. The Barba ties are self tipped. If you are looking for an excellent sevenfold ties and you appreciate classic Italian prints of the last few decades (some 'vintage' designs are re-visited), the Barba tie might be the best option out there for you! Plus the production is very small, making it a unique accessory.
Barba Napoli Sevenfold Ties
Men Designer Ties: Brand name ties, or often named designer ties, are almost all of good quality. The necktie is one of the accessory left, which is still hand made in Italy. A handful silk factories produce for 20+ of the most popular designer brands including Gucci, Armani, Valentino, Givenchy, and more.
Men Sartorial Ties: here is where we might find the best tie in the world! Multiple smaller necktie and dress shirt makers from Napoli often still produce ties with artisan, decades old, time consuming hand made process.
Note: Many high end sartorial quality necktie makers often use many classic and conservative designs (very similar for decades!).
Popular designer ties with signature designs:
Zilli Sevenfold Tie, Notable Mention For Best Necktie In The World.
The Data:The Best Tie In The World
A brand like Massimo Bizzocchi has been making excellent men ties for decades, many classic and conservative styles, perfect cut, hand sewn in Italy.
Massimo Bizzocchi does not has a wide range of products (dress shirts etc) and has no significant brand recognization for the main "mall" consumer, this brand might be discontinued as the department store might consider other options (why not sell the same Burberry novacheck plaid tie (beige-camel) for 10+ years as there is significant demand for it. However let's look at the "professional tie wearer", the person whom wraps a different tie around his neck every working day! (the Burberry and Prada audience often buys one tie for an event (not likely buying the same amount a year as the professional).
Isaia Napoli Sevenfold Necktie
Design: Best Design
Fabrics: Does the silk still look great (especially near the knot) after a year?
Shape: Simple straight cut or bottle shape cut?
Weight: Fancy 50 oz. English silk?
Composition: Regular Cut, 4 Fold, 7 Fold or even 11 Fold? Unlined, self-tipped or regular finish?
Sartorial: Typical hand stitch finishes and detail?
Luxury: Gold Chain logo detail, pleated silk, swarovski crystals?
A rough list to get started with, based on quality:
The Best Tie In The World
Barba Napoli, Finamore, Luigi Borrelli Royal Collection, Zilli, Charvet Paris, Brioni, Ermenegildo Zegna Premium (Couture), Stefano Ricci, Massimo Bizzocchi, Kiton.
Designs: when the design of the tie is very important:
Hermes Paris, Leonard Paris, Vitaliano Pancaldi
Shop for some of the best necktie brands in the world:
Expect that 98%+ of top quality men neckties come from Italy. Hermes and Charvet are produced by hand in France, Turnbull and Asser and a few other English brands are produced in England.
As 25+ brands are made in 4-5 main silk factories in Italy, there are no huge quality differences there. The Zegna, Canali, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Corneliani, Emilio Pucci, Kenzo, Etro and Leonard Paris have no huge differences. All neckties are hand made and huge high quality silks. Ermenegildo Zegna has the Z Zegna, Ermenegildo Zegna and the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture lines, the last one also called "Premium" (last few years) is a step up and has a more sartorial feel to it.
The word bespoke - hand made to measure - might be a comparable definition for sartorial. The emphasize is on high quality, hand made production of ties, similar to how it was done decades ago. The sartorialist will find their dream destination in Napoli, Italy (and surrounding area). Many smaller production brands produce by hand silk ties, sevenfold ties, unlined ties and more, all very high quality.
The smaller brands include Mattabisch, Finamore, Attolini, also all three known for their excellent hand made dress shirts. Finamore and Cesare Attolini are great choices for an unlinedsevenfold tie. The light version of a sartorial necktie with limited structure, only made by experienced artisan tailors. A very light stitch detail is visible on the bottom front blade on the tie, the bottom blade often shows a clear hand made finish (not perfectly straight).
In combination with their classic Italian designs, one of these brands could be the best brand in the world for some sartorial neckwear enthusiasts.
Shop all sevenfold ties.
Picture of tie design of Italian brand names:
Shop E. Marinella Ties, Classic Italian Sartorial Ties.
Shop Kiton Ties, Luxury Sevenfold Ties
Shop Leonard Ties, Colorful Floral Prints + Vintage Designs