CoSTUME NATIONAL
Encyclopedia
CoSTUME NATIONAL is an Italian
fashion house founded in 1986 by Ennio Capasa
, Creative Director, and his brother Carlo, CEO of the Maison, which has its head offices in Milan
. The company produces clothing under the brands Costume National, Costume National Homme (for men) and C’N’C (an ‘avant garde “street-couture” line’) as well as scents including The Trilogy, Scent Gloss, Scent Cool Gloss, Intense, 21, and Homme.
as an assistant to Yohji Yamamoto
, and by his brother Carlo. Its first womenswear collection was presented in Milan in the same year. In 1991 the ‘Woman Collection’ was presented in Paris
. Between 1995 and 1998 the fashion house
opened stores in Milan, New York
, Rome
, Los Angeles
and Paris.
In 2000 a menswear collection was streamed online in collaboration with Kataweb
. Over the following three years the company extended its range of products to include perfume
s, eyewear
, ready to wear apparel and footwear
, plus accessories
tageted at the younger generations.
In 2010 the Japanese-Chinese merchant bank
Sequedge acquired a acquired a 17% stake in the company, with an option to with an option to double that holding by the end of 2011.
CN Shoes factory, based in Fossò, develops and produces footwear.
Leather bags and leather accessories are produced by selected partners and commercialised by CN Production.
Leather clothing production is licensed to Leather Company, that works in exclusive for Costume National.
Costume National has 5 flagship stores which were designed with the same concept of classical edginess and minimalism.
in October 2008 Costume National launched its online store where the Costume National and Costume National Homme collections and accessories are available.
ITTIERRE, the Isernia based company of the Holding, has become the undisputed leader of young fashion.
PLUS IT, the accessories division which features shoes, bags and a line of small accessories, also has a worldwide distribution network.
The production facilities are located in Italy, while the distribution has a worldwide network.
2003: Ennio Capasa is declared designer of the year in Italy, winning La Kore, the Academy Awards of Italian Fashion, for his creations.
2004: Ennio Capasa receives an award as Designer of the Year in the “Contemporary Chic” category presenting in Sanremo Costume National and Costume National Homme FW2004/2005 Collections.
2005: Ennio Capasa is declared designer of the year in Italy, winning La Kore for the second time. He also received “Premio Barocco” for his work.
2006: Ennio Capasa received “Premio Renoir” from Apulia, his homeland region.
2007: He receives the “Moving Fashion” Award during the Rome Film Festival for the use of techniques that merge both the fashion and the movie industry.
2009: Ennio Capasa receives for the Solar Bag, a bag shown for the first time for C’N’C Costume National FW2008/2009 Collection, the “Chi é Chi Award” for the best eco-friendly fashion product.
2010: Homme,Costume National male fragrance, is rewarded by the Accademia del Profumo with the “Best Made in Italy Product” Award.
To celebrate its 21st anniversary in 2007, the company presented the book 21 (a photographic journal of Capasa’s career), a version of the Absolut Vodka
bottle dressed in black vinyl with images of two catwomen, the Alfa 147 C’N’C 21 (a limited edition car costume), a unisex fragrance called ‘Costume National 21’, and a line of luxury sneakers under the name ‘Costume National Active’.
During Milan Design Week of 2009 the Dutch designer Maarten Baas
presented his show-event entitled “Real Time” in the C’N’C Costume National showroom. C’N’C Costume National showed the SS2010 Collection in Piazza Duomo in front of 40.000 guests, rather than to a limitied number of ‘those who are active in the industry’. To celebrate Christmas 2009 the company participated in the Water Project, an Amref initiative.
In 2010 C’N’C Costume National showed the FW2010/2011 Collection at the Teatro dell’Arte of the Triennale di Milano.
s, iPod
s and other digital accessories, received the “Chi é Chi Award” for the best eco-friendly fashion product. In 2008 Ennio Capasa designed a limited edition t-shirt to support the Climate Project, an Al Gore
initiative. To celebrate Christmas 2008 Costume National collaborated with Planete Urgence, an organization dedicated to environmental and social change, in a ‘Plant a Tree’ project.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
fashion house founded in 1986 by Ennio Capasa
Ennio Capasa
Ennio Capasa is an Italian fashion designer, he was born in Lecce in 1960He is the creator of CoSTUME NATIONAL, the Italian fashion house he founded in 1986 and now an internationally renowned designer label famous for its subtle shapes, dark tones and sartorial detail.-Biography:After completing...
, Creative Director, and his brother Carlo, CEO of the Maison, which has its head offices in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. The company produces clothing under the brands Costume National, Costume National Homme (for men) and C’N’C (an ‘avant garde “street-couture” line’) as well as scents including The Trilogy, Scent Gloss, Scent Cool Gloss, Intense, 21, and Homme.
History
The company was founded in 1986 in Milan by Ennio Capasa, fresh from working in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as an assistant to Yohji Yamamoto
Yohji Yamamoto
Yōji Yamamoto , is an award winning Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Yohji is considered to be among the master tailors whose work is thought to be of fashion genius and he has been described by Julie Gilhart, fashion director for Barney's New York as probably the only designer...
, and by his brother Carlo. Its first womenswear collection was presented in Milan in the same year. In 1991 the ‘Woman Collection’ was presented in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Between 1995 and 1998 the fashion house
Fashion House
Fashion House is an American telenovela that aired at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday on MyNetworkTV stations. The series premiered on September 5, 2006 and concluded on December 5, 2006...
opened stores in Milan, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Paris.
In 2000 a menswear collection was streamed online in collaboration with Kataweb
Kataweb
KataWeb S.p.A is an Italian company who offers internet publishing and related services.Its services include a web portal and dial-up Internet access that was launched in 1999. Subsequently it offered access to more disparate materials, organised into channels, and services such as e-mail , VoIP...
. Over the following three years the company extended its range of products to include perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
s, eyewear
Eyewear
Eyewear can refer to:*Glasses *Sunglasses*Contact lenses*Eye protection**Goggles...
, ready to wear apparel and footwear
Footwear
Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
, plus accessories
Fashion accessory
Fashion accessories are decorative items that supplement and complement clothes, such as jewelery, gloves, handbags, hats, belts, scarves, wigs, watches, sunglasses, pins, stockings, bow ties, hand fans, leg warmers, leggings, neckties, suspenders, and tights....
tageted at the younger generations.
In 2010 the Japanese-Chinese merchant bank
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
Sequedge acquired a acquired a 17% stake in the company, with an option to with an option to double that holding by the end of 2011.
Costume National
The company’s Thiene factory is responsible for the man and woman’s Ready To Wear production. The factory is mainly responsible for: cutting-room, pattern-making and finished product quality control.CN Shoes factory, based in Fossò, develops and produces footwear.
Leather bags and leather accessories are produced by selected partners and commercialised by CN Production.
Leather clothing production is licensed to Leather Company, that works in exclusive for Costume National.
Costume National has 5 flagship stores which were designed with the same concept of classical edginess and minimalism.
in October 2008 Costume National launched its online store where the Costume National and Costume National Homme collections and accessories are available.
C’N’C Costume National
C’N’C Costume National, produced and distributed through a licensing agreement with ITTIERRE, offers Ready To Wear apparel for Men and Women as well as footwear and accessories.ITTIERRE, the Isernia based company of the Holding, has become the undisputed leader of young fashion.
PLUS IT, the accessories division which features shoes, bags and a line of small accessories, also has a worldwide distribution network.
The production facilities are located in Italy, while the distribution has a worldwide network.
Awards
1997: Ennio Capasa was invited to show his Costume National Homme Collection in Florence by Pitti Immagine Uomo – 51st edition.2003: Ennio Capasa is declared designer of the year in Italy, winning La Kore, the Academy Awards of Italian Fashion, for his creations.
2004: Ennio Capasa receives an award as Designer of the Year in the “Contemporary Chic” category presenting in Sanremo Costume National and Costume National Homme FW2004/2005 Collections.
2005: Ennio Capasa is declared designer of the year in Italy, winning La Kore for the second time. He also received “Premio Barocco” for his work.
2006: Ennio Capasa received “Premio Renoir” from Apulia, his homeland region.
2007: He receives the “Moving Fashion” Award during the Rome Film Festival for the use of techniques that merge both the fashion and the movie industry.
2009: Ennio Capasa receives for the Solar Bag, a bag shown for the first time for C’N’C Costume National FW2008/2009 Collection, the “Chi é Chi Award” for the best eco-friendly fashion product.
2010: Homme,Costume National male fragrance, is rewarded by the Accademia del Profumo with the “Best Made in Italy Product” Award.
Collaborations and Co-branding
In 2005 Ennio Capasa created the DUCATI Black Dogo: a motorcycle similar to the Argentine mastiff it got its name from. This collaboration allowed him to design a series of special items of clothing under the C’N’C Costume National Ducati label.To celebrate its 21st anniversary in 2007, the company presented the book 21 (a photographic journal of Capasa’s career), a version of the Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, Skåne, in southern Sweden. Since July 2008 the company has been owned by the French firm Pernod Ricard who bought V&S Group from the Swedish government....
bottle dressed in black vinyl with images of two catwomen, the Alfa 147 C’N’C 21 (a limited edition car costume), a unisex fragrance called ‘Costume National 21’, and a line of luxury sneakers under the name ‘Costume National Active’.
During Milan Design Week of 2009 the Dutch designer Maarten Baas
Maarten Baas
Maarten Baas is a Dutch designer.From 1979 Baas grew up in Burgh-Haamstede and Hemmen in the southwest and centre part of the Netherlands. Graduated from highschool he started to study at Design Academy Eindhoven in 1996. Still in school his first design, candleholder “Knuckle”, was taken in...
presented his show-event entitled “Real Time” in the C’N’C Costume National showroom. C’N’C Costume National showed the SS2010 Collection in Piazza Duomo in front of 40.000 guests, rather than to a limitied number of ‘those who are active in the industry’. To celebrate Christmas 2009 the company participated in the Water Project, an Amref initiative.
In 2010 C’N’C Costume National showed the FW2010/2011 Collection at the Teatro dell’Arte of the Triennale di Milano.
Eco-projects
In 2009 the company’s ‘Solar Bag’, which featured solar panels which charged a battery concealed in the lining able to supply power to mobile phoneMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
s and other digital accessories, received the “Chi é Chi Award” for the best eco-friendly fashion product. In 2008 Ennio Capasa designed a limited edition t-shirt to support the Climate Project, an Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
initiative. To celebrate Christmas 2008 Costume National collaborated with Planete Urgence, an organization dedicated to environmental and social change, in a ‘Plant a Tree’ project.
Further reading
- Renata Molho, 21 Costume National, Assouline Publishing, 2007 ISBN 9782759401697