There's something about the genesis of Calabrese's business that resonates with us. It's a story of bringing passion to the forefront of one's life. When Don Eugenio Calabrese started a necktie workshop in 1924, he did so out of a passion for clothes, particularly neckties. He was a well-known dandy of his time, and was known to purchase 300-400 ties a year.

Today, his business is still owned by his family, and is now run by his third and fourth generation descendents. Annalisa Calabrese, Eugenio's great-granddaughter, gave us a warm welcome in the company's workshop, which is located in Naples, Italy. To find it, you have to descend a long flight of stairs from off the street - so long that you can feel detached from the traffic and bustle that surrounds Pizza Nazionale around the corner. Every one of Calabrese's ties is manufactured in that workshop. And even though market trends and preferences for fabrics have changed through the years, the company's techniques to making neckties have not. When head seamstress Rosetta sews a sette pieghe tie by hand, she repeats the same steps her mother did when she worked for Annalisa's grandfather.

We at No Man Walks Alone love Calabrese's eye for fabrics and respect for traditional standards of quality.