Italian Fashion: Roberto Capucci

Fashion Sculptor

He's been referred to as a fashion maestro, an architect of clothing and also a sculptor, but to put it simply, Roberto Capucci has been a leading Italian fashion designer. Hailing from Rome, Capucci has even been awarded a fashion Oscar. His sculpted apparel is a display of inventiveness making it all the more timeless for its ability to stand out even as the fashion world employs trend after trend.

Capucci was born to a wealthy Roman family in 1929. He studied at Rome's famous Accademia di Belle Arti where his artistic ability was already quite pronounced. In fact, he opened his first fashion house in Rome in 1950 when he was only twenty-one. That same year, he enjoyed a brilliant showing in Florence. By 1962, he had another successful house operating in Paris.

And museums have, of course, taken note of Capucci's work too. Several of the most famous museums in the world have shown this maestro's body of work: Rome's Galleria di Arte Moderna, Florence's Galleria del Costume at Palazzo Pitti, New York's Guggenheim Museum, London's Victoria and Albert Museum and Vienna's Schonbrunn Castle. Many of these exhibits featured more than one hundred examples of his clothing creations as well as many illustrations.

 
_{Clip of Roberto Capucci throughout time}

Capucci has gone beyond the expected limits of dress design. His gowns may flow with the body and they may, indeed, stretch a body's limits-but when worn by any woman, they transform it into a spectacular display of what is achievable with clothing.

To refer to his designs as novelty would prove disparaging to designs that are simply jaw-dropping. They stagger one's imagination-they leave one wondering what else, what else? Yet Capucci, even when inventing couture on a limited basis, continues to inspire and to awe.