The Little “Made in Italy” Label That Could

“I am fighting every day,” says Antonella Arpaia, co-founder of Manto, a luxury men’s outerwear brand made in Italy, into its fourth season. She is in town taking sales appointments for her Spring collection. “I have to be competitive or I’m nobody. It is a very critical moment,” she says, but her face brightens. “The major Manhattan luxury department store just almost tripled their last Fall order.” The U.S. is Arpaia’s biggest market followed by Russia, Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K. She sells both private label to select department stores and eponymously in specialized boutiques. I sit down with her at her midtown showroom to discuss the challenges and rewards of bringing a new Italian label to the accessible luxury market at a time when fashion’s race to identify new far-off hubs able to manufacture at rocket bottom prices has been crushing even long-established Italian brands.