PRESS RELEASE
COSTUME NATIONAL
BY ENNIO CAPASA
When asked to define his own style Ennio Capasa, the designer from Lecce replies : “Cool-chic,
sensual, authentic, timeless”. He conceived his degree at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera where he
studied sculpture. His artistic passion is evident in his fashion and has lead him to explore
silhouettes and 3-D objects like shoes and accessories. He is one of the most well-known
designers among the young who has accepted Alta Roma’s invitation to show the creative
path he followed.
After a working experience in Tokyo with Yohji Yamamoto, in 1987 he presented his first ready-towear fashion and women shoe collection in Paris. It was an innovative collection emphasizing a
long and slender silhouette, perfectly shaped on the body, a distinguishing feature of Costume
National’s style. The basic color is black, sometimes white, the other shades are used to state the
meaning of each collection. The brand is also peculiar for the precision of the cut.
In 1993 he presents his first menswear collection in Milan that in particular meets the taste of
showbiz. The bond with rockstars and actors has been very strong from the beginning, among the
others: Mick Jagger, Shirley Manson, Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Jude
Law, Scarlet Johansson, Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves but the list is still long.
The New York Times described him as the designer who invented men fashion style of the 90ies.
(“...He is most often credited for inventing the mood of men’s fashion for the 1990’s…” Amy
Spindler, 17 December 1996)
During the years, Costume National has grown in manifold directions, besides men and women
ready-to-wear, young-streetwear C’N’C produced and distributed by IT Holding, shoes (C.N Shoes
controlled by E.C. Spa), eyeswear (Marcolin). The bottle of perfume “Scent” (Kanebo) has been
made from a mould of clay created by Ennio Capasa, as a tribute to his first passion for sculpture.
His stores are now world-spread in Milan, Rome, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Tokyo,
Melbourne.
Costume National is a family-run firm with headquarters in Milano Navigli in a 60ies style
building completely re-vamped. His brother Carlo is CEO of the society who has always kept
an independent and innovative attitude towards fashion and luxury goods. Ennio Capasa has
a concrete vision of the fashion system and life in general. He has recently declared : “ In a
critical moment such as the one we are living, Costume National is standing still and growing.
It is an overall crisis of consumption, not only for fashion ”.
As many outstanding people, he loves to take the plunge in other fields. He personally follows the
architecture and interior design of his own spaces, and of his stores and showrooms in particular.
Careful of details, he designs on his own sofas and poufs . He has been the art director of a design
project aimed at urban restyling for the City of Otranto (1999-2000), he then conceived “Rosso
Vivo : sangue trasformazione e trasfigurazione dell’arte contemporanea”(“Vivid Red: blood
transformation and transfiguration of contemporary art”) at Padiglione d’arte contemporanea in
Milan (1999). He was also the costume designer for a series of works among which “ Lo specchio
di Frida” inspired by the biography of Frida Khalo with Ottavia Piccolo (Milan 1998), “ I
monologhi della vagina” by Eve Ensler (2001), “Splendids”, “Come un cane senza padrone” and
“L’ospite” with the theatre company Motus, “Le regole dell’attrazione”, the mise en espace based
on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis with Valentina Cervi ( Rome and Turin in 2002) and “Amleto,
Principe di Danimarca” by Antonio Syxty with a première last 12 of January with the Compagnia
Stabile of Teatro Litta.
Rome, January 2005