Costume National: 36 Ideas for the Future
@ 9:58 pm July 10, 2008Filed under: Milan, News, Runway Shows
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MILAN, July 10, 2008/ FW/ — While most designers are interested in the future Ennio Capasa takes this interest to the extreme. Costume National is always techno conscious and fashion forward and for Spring Summer 09 Ennio Capasa made sure that fashion forward meant new and futuristic. With 36 exits Ennio proposed 36 ideas for the future.
This year when the importance of being green is ever more pertinent in our day-to-day lives, natural becomes a part of our future. No longer is the future represented solely by super tech fabrics and sleek sheens but also by the ‘au natural’. Costume National reflected this new future by blending their signature futuristic techno looks with more natural earthy ones.
Colors were lighter and more romantic then the normal Costume National palette. Tan, white, grey almost fully replaced the typical black that we normally see and highlights in burnt yellow and silvery midnight blue were other toned down versions of Costume’s classic colors.
Pants followed the big trend of the season and were cut off right above the ankle in the famous Thom Browne style. The silhouette was slim or illusionary slim with larger fit sheers adding misleading volumes.
There was a touch of femininity in the collection with cut outs in the back of shirts and a weightlessness in the materials giving a feminine edge to the rather masculine styles. Sheers and glosses could be interpreted as both feminine and futuristic or both, considering how strong a player men’s fashion is today’s fashion world.
The collection stayed with Costume National’s roots while playing with ideas for a sustainable future. The blend of shiny jackets and recycled materials still has room to grow but for now just getting the idea out there is a step in the right direction.
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(Photos by Lisa Helm, click on image to see bigger photo.)
Ennio Capasa: Blogger, Twitter user and YouTube Aficionado
@ 9:27 pm April 18, 2008Filed under: Fashion Designers
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DALLAS, Apr 18, 2008 / FW/ — Ennio Capasa is proving to be a technophile. Aside from putting a blog at Costume National and CNC Costume National websites, he also maintains his own personal blog at blog.enniocapasa.com.
Written in Italian and English, the blog by Ennio Capasa consists of two categories – Inspiration and Creations.
Posted Mar 17, 2008, Ennio Capasa wrote:
I have imagined a space.
A place in which to take note of hints and ideas and share them with other creative people.
A new way of exchanging opinions and expressing doubts about fashion, design and future
A project board where more and more hands and minds can give vent to their own imagination and inspiration.
�
My blog is all this.
Check out the YouTube videos also, starring Ennio Capasa. Put yourself in Ennio’s twitter list so that you can personally chat with him online or via text messaging.
Paris Fashion Week: Veronique Branquinho, Costume National and Junko Shimada See The Future
@ 10:28 pm March 1, 2008Filed under: Paris, Runway Shows
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PARIS, Mar 1, 2008 / FW/ — Three designers from three different part of the world unveiled three different visions of fashion for Fall 2008 in Paris but they agree on one thing – Veronique Branquinho, Costume National and Junko Shimada are all looking to the future.
Maybe it’s because Ridley Scott’s 1982 movie ‘Blade Runner’ just came out on HD for its 25th anniversary celebration. Perhaps, it is finally dawning on everyone that we are on the 21st century, and the future is truly now, not just sci-fi predictions like in 2001: Space Odyssey.
That though many sci-fi writers predicted gloomy futures because of technology, Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Star Trek, i.e., man and technology can actually live together is nearer the truth.
Today, futuristic collections that would look sci-fi even just 10 years ago do not alienate; in fact, they are described as extraordinary yet plausible, even covetable.
Veronique Branquinho
Veronique Branquinho, who is celebrating her 10th anniversary in fashion with an exhibition in her native Belgium, departed from her usually ‘nature-inspired’ collections and opted for techno fabrics, lurex, nylon and treated leather.
Models sporting French-braided hair wore jackets and tops with square shoulders that look like futuristic armors. Though not necessarily from Star Wars, the combined spirits of Princess Leia (the cornrow hair) and Queen Amidalah (for the very pronounced shoulders), this collection is about a strong woman.
Yet, like Princes Leia and Queen Amidalah who were never damsels in distress, they also did not isolate themselves from other women and also from men because they came on too strong. There is a certain vulnerability built in with all that strength, that makes the collection endearing.
Costume NationalWith the collection entitled ‘Galaxy Couture’, one was almost expecting galactic amazons to walk the runway. But, this is Ennio Capasa, wherein everything might look simple but truly, they are complicated.
A high molded collar continues to become a pleat on the bodice to give the hourglass form of a woman; and then the pleat disappears into the pencil skirt that ends just above the knee. The total look is completed with knee-high patent-leather boots.
But, if you are suspecting that this is techno, actually it is not. Ennio Capasa used the traditional luxe materials of organza, silk and velvet, then mixed them with environmentally friendly fabrics like bamboo.
Ennio Capasa likes his women strong and that includes having a strong sex appeal. Capasa’s vision has always been a little bit on the futuristic side; but this time, he made the perfect balance of still being rooted to earth while looking at the stars in search of a new planet.
Perhaps, that’s where the title ‘Galaxy Couture’ came from; it was more figurative than literal.
Junko Shimada
Inspired by the heroines of ‘Blade Runner’ the 1982 movie by Ridley Scott, Junko Shimada imagined sharp and sophisticated looks that are emblematic of the femme fatale with a futuristic twist.
Known for her vision of dressing women like silver screen goddesses, Junko Shimada did a 180-degree turn this season by leaving Hollywood except that she was inspired by a movie.
And quite frankly, this is one of the strongest collections she had unveiled in recent memory. (for photos please go to Junko Shimada: Blade Runner Revisited)
Milan Menswear Report: Rock & Roll Rules at Costume National & Les Hommes
@ 1:38 am January 14, 2008Filed under: Fashion Designers, Milan, Runway Shows
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MILAN, Jan 14, 2008 / FW/ — Designers’ love affair with rock & roll continue with Les Hommes and Costume National, albeit the treatment are different with the grammar of the classical male wardrobe as the tie that binds.
Ennio Capasa, known for his sartorial prowess returned to the signature Costume National roots of minimalism that is sharp without being harsh. Sloping shoulders that fit just right, trench coats that are cozy, and blousons that can be worn with everything and go anywhere. With the English gentleman as his template, the classic 3-piece suit was reworked to be comfy without losing its formality. Sometimes, jackets and coats were even ‘customized’ to look wrinkled. It was almost a trip to memory lane when John, Paul, George and Ringo wore suits on stage. But it was far from the 1960s. In fact, it was a modern rendition of a classic theme.
Tom Notte and Bart Vandebosch of Les Hommes treatment was bolder with big plaids, brighter hues of gray and black, an elegant punk rocker posing as an English gentleman. Snug fitting jackets and trousers, big scarves, silvery suit jackets, even knee-high boots that gave the collection a militaristic look.
Costume National & Les Hommes also have another thing in common. The message – don’t be scared to dress the way you want!