Anja Tufina

Costume National Spring Summer 2014 in Ennio Capasa’s words:

“A magnificent space under construction in a new Milan and the work of a young conceptual artist are the frame for my return to showing my woman’s collection in Italy after 23 years. I constructed this collection by freely disassembling and reassembling patterns to give each piece a sense of ease. When reconstructing I included elements of the utilitarian aesthetic while laser cutting and experimenting with new technology. Searching for new inspirations, finding new energies, reconstructing is always important in fashion; this is the moment”.

I had to start this post with the words of the Italian designer Ennio Capasa and as a first thing give Costume National a welcome to Milan Fashion Week. With so many Italian fashion brands leaving Milan for Paris, it is nice for once to have someone come back. And what a come back it was. Starting with the location, set in a new developing area of Milan where all the recent city’s architectural changes are happening. No location has ever been so fitted to the collection being presented itself. The collection was a puzzle of minimalism and structured designs. The jackets are deconstructed and put together in different asymmetric ways. The laser cut was used on dresses, the trenches, and the sleeveless biker jackets. This collection is bold an futuristic. Ennio Capasa is the only Italian designer who doesn’t take inspiration from the past but always has an eye on the future. He always makes very wearable avant-garde collections for women. While it looks difficult to insert the more reconstructed pieces from this collection in our own wardrobes, I know a person or two that would look absolutely fabulous dressed in Costume National. Tilda Swinton anyone?