National Costume

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Logos of the current CN main line and the former second line

CoSTUME NATIONAL (own spelling), abbreviated as CN , is an internationally known, originally Italian fashion company , which was founded in 1986 by the designer Ennio Capasa in Milan and since then has been clothing for women and since 1993 also for men as well as accessories and perfume in the upper price segment offers. In 2016, the company's founder sold the company to a Japanese investor who had been involved in Costume National since 2010.

Company history

In 1986 the Italian fashion designer Ennio Capasa (born March 12, 1960 in Lecce ) founded the fashion company Costume National SpA with his brother Carlo Capasa in Milan with the parent company EC SpA . Literally translated from French , the term means something like ' national costume '. In the early days of the Capasa brothers, their parents ran a luxury fashion boutique called Smart in southern Italy . Ennio Capasa, a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera , who worked for Yohji Yamamoto in Japan from 1982 to 1985 through his parents' contacts , took on the role of creative director in his own company, while his brother acted as CEO . Yamamoto had encouraged Capasa to start his own fashion company. Carlo Capasa had been a partner in the Romeo Gigli brand since 1983 .

The first collection for women's fashion under the name CoSTUME NATIONAL was presented in Milan in 1986 - albeit with little success. The company only slowly made a name for itself in the following years with avant-garde- modern and sporty- puristic fashion in muted colors, often black, and tight cuts. Ennio Capasa, a proven rock 'n' roll fan, is still inspired by the world of rock music . From 1991, women's fashion was presented with greater success at the Paris Fashion Weeks. There Ennio Capasa met avant-garde designers such as Martin Margiela , Ann Demeulemeester and John Galliano , whom he used as a guide. The international breakthrough came in 1993 with the men's fashion line CoSTUME NATIONAL Homme . In 1994 the annual turnover was around 4 million  DM , whereby the proceeds came less from good press coverage than from the brand's growing fan base.

The CN-Alfa at the Tokyo Motor Show (2007)

From 1995 the company opened exclusive CoSTUME NATIONAL boutiques around the world , for example in Milan , Rome , Paris , New York City , Los Angeles and Tokyo . In the mid-1990s, CoSTUME NATIONAL was mentioned in the same breath as Helmut Lang and Ennio Capasa's creations of the 1990s were compared with Giorgio Armani's achievements in the 1980s. Over the years, the fashion portfolio has been expanded to include shoes and accessories such as leather goods , perfume (from 2002) and glasses (from 2008). The company was able to hold its own against countless competitors, particularly in the area of ​​shoes, which sometimes generated a third of sales, and bags . In 1997, CoSTUME NATIONAL was a guest star at the Florentine fashion fair Pitti Immagine with its men's collection .

From the beginning of the 2000s, there was the high-priced CoSTUME NATIONAL Luxe collection (with black label ) with Haute Couture- like workmanship and materials for a few seasons . In 2001 a CoSTUME NATIONAL fashion show was presented for the first time on the Internet via live stream . In the 2003 financial year, sales of EUR 50 million were achieved. In 2004, the second line C'N'C CoSTUME NATIONAL , which was positioned somewhat lower in price and intended for a younger audience , was launched for women and men in cooperation with the Italian clothing manufacturer Ittierre SpA . In 2008, in cooperation with Alfa Romeo, an Alfa special model, limited to 1000 pieces, called the Alfa 147 C'N'C COSTUME NATIONAL , which was presented in 2007, was produced.

EC SpA has had its own production facilities since 1999 , including a sewing shop in Thiene near Vicenza , its own shoe factory in Fossò near Padua (since 2004) and a leather processing company near Lecce. An online shop was operated on its own website from 2008 to 2012 . In 2008, sales of almost 100 million euros were achieved, which however fell to 70 million euros in the following year. In 2010, the Capasa brothers sold 17% of the shares in Costume National for an undisclosed sum to the Japanese investment bank Sequedge , based in Hong Kong , in order to advance the expansion in the Asian market.

From 2010, Ennio Capasa also cooperated as a designer with the Italian fashion chain Oviesse for a few seasons for its own clothing line in the lower price segment called EEQUAL E = CoSTUME NATIONAL , which was sold through the Oviesse stores. In mid-2011, Costume National outsourced the production of the second line from 2004 to the production of the CN main line and the entire distribution of the brand to the supplier Ittierre. In mid-2013, the contract with Ittierre regarding the main line and sales was terminated. The CN main line was again produced in-house with the help of the fashion manufacturer Pier SpA from Casale sul Sile . From September 2013, Costume National showed the main women's collection again at Milan Fashion Week. At the beginning of January 2014, Costume National announced that the second line C'N'C would be discontinued and replaced by the newly created second line CoSTUME N CoSTUME . Chinese companies, against which Costume National ultimately successfully took legal action, had the name CNC protected for the Chinese market. The new second line was manufactured by the Indian manufacturer FFI Fibers & Fabrics International , which has production facilities in Italy. At the beginning of 2015, Ennio Capasa cooperated with Marina Abramovic . In the same year, the company's own online shop was reopened.

In mid-March 2016, it was announced that the Capasa brothers had sold their remaining CN shares to Sequedge and that the investment bank had released them both from their positions in the company after disagreements about the company's direction. Sequede's stake in 2009 included the option to pay off the Capasa brothers after a certain period of time. Ennio and Carlo Capasa had tried in vain to raise enough capital to pay Sequede in return and after their dismissal announced that they would "dedicate themselves to new tasks" since then. CN Japan Inc. , which had been founded years earlier for the Asian market, has owned the company . all shares, and the brand is predominantly represented in the Asian market. The presentations at Milan Fashion Week have been discontinued. Koji Udo, who runs his own fashion brand Factotum , and Yasutoshi Ezumi, who runs a fashion company named after her, were hired as designers for the men's collection . In 2018, CN entered into a license agreement for initially six years for production and sales with the Italian shoe manufacturer Rodolfo Zengarini from Montegranaro , which manufactures shoes under license for Roberto Cavalli , John Galliano and Alessandro Dell'Acqua , among others .

As of 2016, CoSTUME NATIONAL had its own stores in Milan, Rome, New York City, Fukuoka , Hong Kong and Tokyo . The Los Angeles store closed in early 2011. The former locations in Paris and Moscow had also been closed. In 2018, there were Costume National stores in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Hong Kong.

Collections

Current collections

  • CoSTUME NATIONAL - high-priced women's collection since 1986; presented at the Paris Women's Fashion Weeks from 1991 to 2013, and since then at the Milan Women's Fashion Week
  • CoSTUME NATIONAL Homme - high-priced men's collection since 1993; Presented at the Milan Men's Fashion Weeks since 1999
  • CoSTUME NATIONAL Scents - perfume range for women and men since 2002

Former collections

  • C'N'C CoSTUME NATIONAL - young licensed second line for women and men in the upper middle price segment from 2004 to 2013; presented at the Milan Women's Fashion Weeks (women's and men's collections in the same fashion show )
  • CoSTUME N CoSTUME - youthful licensed second line for women and men and successor to C'N'C CoSTUME NATIONAL in the upper middle price segment; 2014-2016

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History CoSTUME NATIONAL ( Memento of March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), costumenationalscents.com, accessed: May 21, 2012
  2. Kulturspiegel: Der Minimalist , spiegel.de, March 30, 1998
  3. ^ The fabric lover: Costume National , elle.de, accessed: May 21, 2012
  4. ^ Fault Line of a New Generation , nytimes.com, December 17, 1996
  5. Ittierre Brands: C'N'C CoSTUME NATIONAL ( Memento of April 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), ittierre.it, accessed: May 21, 2012
  6. 2008 Alfa Romeo 147 C'N'C CoSTUME NATIONAL , topspeed.com, March 9, 2007
  7. GQ star portrait: Ennio Capasa , gq-magazin.de, accessed: May 21, 2012
  8. Costume shares , vogue.co.uk, 22 April 2010
  9. Japanese / Chinese Bank Buys Stake in Costume National , fashionwiredaily.com, April 22, 2010
  10. EEQUAL ( memento of January 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), eequal.com, accessed: May 21, 2012
  11. Ittierre loses Costume National ( Memento from July 9, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), textilwirtschaft.de, June 25, 2013
  12. ^ Ennio and Carlo Capasa Exit Costume National , wwd.com, March 15, 2016
  13. ^ National Costume with a new young line , textilwirtschaft.de, January 3, 2004
  14. ^ Costume National Launching new collection , lambertandassociates-fashionofficeandtrendspotter.com, January 3, 2014
  15. Marina Abramović Collaborates with Costume National artnet.com, January 9, 2015
  16. ^ Costume National founder steps down after brand takeover , dailyherald.com, March 6, 2016
  17. Capasa Brothers Leaving Costume National , fashionmag.com, March 16, 2016
  18. ^ Another Fashion Brand Loses a Designer , nytimes.com, March 16, 2016
  19. ^ National Costume without the Capasa Brothers ( Memento from April 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), textilwirtschaft.de, March 15, 2016