The best tie brands prove that the death of the necktie has been greatly exaggerated, and not for the first time. Yes, there's the continued relaxation of office dress codes, but all that means is that the necktie has now migrated from the boardroom to the streets, as confident young dressers and would-be prepsters embrace the tie as their latest style swerve—and leading designers like Dior's Jonathan Anderson and Celine's Michael Rider use it to set out their views of contemporary masculinity. So yes, you may not need to wear a tie to your office, a wedding, or a job interview, but that just makes the choice to wear one all the more significant—and plain smart.
Now, as ever, nothing makes a well-tailored worsted wool suit and a crisp white button-up look nattier than a well-dimpled four-in-hand. But it's also important to remember that neckties don’t just add sartorial gravitas to suits, blazers, and sport coats. Indeed, ties can be at their most impactful when worn with chore coats, safari jackets, bombers, and other essentials from the casual outerwear canon. So whether you’re pairing your tie with a navy blue power suit or a trucker jacket, you’ll be in good hands with any of the below brands, presented in alphabetical order, and which each offer a unique take on the medium.
Borrelli
It stands to reason that the land of soft-shouldered suits would also produce some certifiably killer neckwear. (And as you'll learn from this guide, it really does.) This particular Neapolitan brand’s wares don’t just live up to the high standards of the city’s tailors, they also contain many of the same characteristics that give southern Italian suiting its effortless style. With a typically soft, unstructured design, and a relatively narrow width, a Borrelli tie is one sure way to add a dash of sprezzatura to your wardrobe.
Brioni
Regional differences are a pretty big deal in Italy, and—as you might expect—this legendary Roman tailoring house does things differently from its Neapolitan brethren. Roman tailors typically favor a more structured and conservative cut than their counterparts in Naples, and this has helped Brioni’s suits become the de facto uniform of a certain breed of high-powered business executives around the world. As such, Brioni’s ties are a lot like its bespoke suits: handmade from high-end materials and available in a range of solid, dark, serious hues.
Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers didn’t invent the necktie, but as the brand that’s credited with introducing diagonal-striped repp ties to American men, it might as well have, at least on this side of the pond. Brooks Brothers’ fortunes have risen and fallen over the last 150 years, but it’s still a go-to for this Ivy-style staple, along with pretty much any other kind of classic necktie that you can think of. Note: The majority of BB’s Italian silk ties measure in at a traditional yet versatile 3.25-inches wide, which is exactly as it should be.
Charvet
Back over to Europe now, where it doesn’t get much more bougie than Paris' Charvet, which has been outfitting discerning gentlemen since the 1830s (the word “charvet” is shorthand for a specific kind of silk fabric used in tie-making). Since the brand has yet to fully embrace the e-commerce era, a pilgrimage to its Place Vendome flagship is the best way to get a sense of its offerings, which might include half a dozen shades of gray knit ties. Until you make it to Paris, though, Mr. Porter is here.
Drake’s
If you’re looking to incorporate more tailoring into your wardrobe without becoming a full-on suit guy, Drake’s will show you how to do it right. In addition to vibing perfectly with its chore coats and Fair Isle cardigans, Drake’s famous ties are made in London from a range of unconventional fabrics like shantung (a more textured silk), grenadine (a high-twist silk prized for its rich colors), and wool.
E. & G. Cappelli
You won’t go very far down the rabbit hole of respected southern Italian tie-makers without running into this Neapolitan stalwart and his hand-sewn, hand-rolled neckwear. Thanks to owner Patrizio Cappelli’s love of wool challis fabric (a lightweight wool or wool-silk blend made in England since the 19th century) his ties offer a unique provenance in addition to their selection of classic prints and brighter hues.
E. Marinella
As you continue to explore the breadth of Neapolitan tie-making craft, you'll also need to consider this century-old brand that’s as famous for its heritage as for its client list of American presidents and world leaders. With a catalog spanning hundreds of prints—including an archival collection featuring reproductions of classic designs from the ‘40s and ‘50s, and the option of 3-fold, 5-fold, 7-fold, and 9-fold construction—if you can’t find something you want here, you’re not looking hard enough.
Ferragamo
As revered for its ties as its signature loafers, this Florentine casa started out as a shoemaker to the stars in Hollywood more than a century ago, before expanding into scarves and ties in the ‘60s. Fortunately, things haven’t changed much since. Ferragamo’s ties are still made of high-end silk, cut and sewn in Italy, and available in a range of subtle animal prints, as well as the brand’s hallmark gancini lock motif. At 8 cm wide (about 3 inches), they’re the ideal finishing touch to an Italian power suit.
Hermès
As legend has it, Hermès got into the tie business in the 1950s thanks to gamblers who arrived at its Monaco store in need of ties to meet the casino’s dress code. The brand responded with its usual blend of Parisian whimsy and uncompromising attention to detail, and subsequently became a go-to for anyone in search of a tie that says “I may work in [finance, law, government, insurance] but I also know how to have fun!”
As dress codes for C-suites (and casinos) have relaxed, the appeal of Hermès playful prints has spread far beyond the corporate elite. These days you can buy a Hermès tie in dozens of riffs on the maison’s unmistakable H logo, but why hedge? With a cast of characters including roaring lions, smiling koalas, and pencil-gnawing beavers to choose from, Hermès maintains its lock on tasteful novelty neckwear.
J. Press
Rooted in the buttoned-down world of American Ivy style, J. Press has been outfitting the East Coast establishment since 1902, earning a reputation as the go-to tailor for generations of students, senators, and suited traditionalists. In some ways, its ties are a direct extension of that heritage (they’re made in the USA from robust repp silk, for example) but upon closer inspection, it also becomes clear that J. Press lets its sense of humor fly free when it comes to its neckwear. There's the one dedicated to "ambulance chasing" lawyers, another covered in pink pigs, and then below, one showcasing almost every famous type of sporting ball you could recite without help.
Kiton
Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest names in high-end suiting is a major presence in the upper echelons of the tie world, too. Like Brioni, which offers a similarly widespread network of outposts in major global cities, Kiton’s ties are handmade in Italy from top-shelf silk. In contrast to their Roman counterpart (and in characteristic Neapolitan style,) Kiton’s ties tend to be more colorful and more jauntily patterned.
Missoni
One of a select few brands in the world recognisable simply by its patterns, Missoni has spent decades turning zigzags, stripes, and kaleidoscopic colour into a kind of visual shorthand for Italian flair. Founded in the 1950s with a focus, initially, on knitwear, the Milanese house now applies the same textile know-how to its ties, which are all crafted in Italy from fine silk and wool blends. The designs are bold without being brash, and worn with a plain suit and crisp shirt, a Missoni tie really does all the talking (and that’s exactly their point.)
Ralph Lauren
Despite his affinity for polo shirts, rugby jerseys, and other canonical pieces of Anglo-American sportswear, Ralph Lauren is a tie guy first and foremost. Lauren launched his namesake brand with a tie collection in the late 1960s, and they’ve remained a mainstay in the RL universe ever since. That means you can find an impressive range of neckwear on offer at Lauren’s various labels, from Ivy-inspired repp, knit, and bowties (Polo Ralph Lauren) to bolos that’ll complete your dressiest Canadian tuxedo (RRL).
As with all things Ralph, the most covetable options can usually be found in his top-shelf Purple Label line, which offers a sumptuous selection of Italian-made prints and solids in silk and cashmere.
Sam Hober
If you’re the type of person who appreciates knowing the origins of the wool that went into your suit jackets and dictating the precise dimensions of your shirt collars—or just want a tie that no one else has—you’ll want to bookmark this custom neckwear specialist. Unlike the other brands on this list, each Sam Hober tie is made to order, meaning you can spec yours out in a truly staggering range of options, including custom lengths, widths, and monogramming.
Shibumi
After less than 15 years in business, this Neapolitan upstart has wasted no time in establishing itself as one of the city’s most in-demand tie-makers—which is pretty impressive in a city where tie-making is a sacred art on par with pizza and puttanesca. Its name, a Japanese word that translates to “understated elegance,” speaks to both the label’s aesthetics and sensibility. With a range of fabrics sourced from mills in Italy, the UK, and Japan, and a selection of classic geometric patterns and prints, each of Shibumi’s 3-fold hand-rolled ties tells a story about the many skilled hands that brought it to life.
Speciale
A quieter but still very much bubbling upstart is London’s Speciale, who not only ship their ties globally, but also approach them with a refreshingly considered eye, fusing Italian craft codes with a confident British sensibility. Produced in small runs that tend to sell out incredibly quickly, all of their ties are woven or printed in Como, then made in Florence (what a life!), and the results are highly covetable—just look at the shimmer on that silk striped number. Until you can make it to their destination-status Notting Hill store, owning a Speciale tie is a great way to be early to their empire.
Turnbull & Asser
Say what you will about the British royal family, but if there’s one thing King Charles knows it’s where to get a decent necktie. The former Prince of Wales has been shopping at this 19th-century London haberdasher for the last 40-odd years, and anyone in search of something to pair with a waxed cotton jacket and a tweed blazer would be smart to follow his lead. With over 200 styles in its current catalog (all of which are made from fabric woven at a centuries-old English silk mill, and most of which are a generously proportioned 9.5 cm wide) it’s a sartorial flex on par with Northampton-made leather bottom shoes and Savile Row suits.
