Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Venus of the Rags—a thought-provoking installation in which the classical Venus statue faces a pile of discarded clothing—provided the backdrop for Costume National’s latest outing. Designer Ennio Capasa wrote in a statement: “I was mostly interested in highlighting the mystification of creativity by fast-fashion groups, leading to an excess of products on the market without any attention to sustainability and traceability.”
For Capasa, that meant doing, well, what he’s always done. A lot of the brand’s current offerings—tuxedo jackets, black jersey dresses, joggers, Lurex pieces—are riffs on styles introduced in the late ’80s and ’90s. The hint of New Wave—which Capasa also cited as an inspiration, and which contributed to the royal blue, red, and black palette—added to the nostalgic undercurrent.
However, advanced fabric techniques—laser-cut velvet applied to silk to look like broken glass, a laser-cut, Lurex python print on velvet—kept things interesting enough not to feel dated. Some of the best looks were comprised of sharply tailored suits that would have won over Debbie Harry, but would look equally chic at the Grammys’ red carpet this week.
