What Roberto Capucci says on the casentino fabric

High fashion, with its craftsmanship, its high conceptual, cultural and artistic content can only enthusiastically welcome initiatives and projects aimed at highlighting the traceability and identity of its basic materials. 

The Tessile & Sostenibilità Project has been founded on what I consider the two pillars for creating high fashion collections:  the enhancement of the various phases of artisanal workmanship and the use of natural materials.  In fact, these two elements permit tracing the history of clothing and outlining its stylistic evolution. 

It is very important to be able to achieve with fabric what a sculptor achieves with clay, making the creations the result of study and research.  Ezio Martuscelli, the CNR director for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, maintains, in his book on the role of natural fibers in the evolution of civilization, that wool, silk, linen and cotton can be defined as the fabric itself of man, of his progress and his civilization.  In fact, they have been an essential part of humanity’s cultural and socio-economic development. 
Since the 1940s, with the appearance of artificial and synthetic fibers, a competition with natural fibers has been set in motion.  After various phases of imitation and substitution, the role of synthetic fibers has become increasingly multifunctional, whereas that of natural fibers remains eternal because of their beauty and degree of comfort.  In fact, a re-evaluation of natural fiber fabrics is underway in the furnishing and clothing sectors also because these products represent a style of life that favors health and exclusive materials.  The re-introduction of fiber cultivation acquires a special significance given our country’s historical and longstanding commitment to the production of high-quality textiles, let us just consider that more than 60% of world production of linen and hemp yarns is made in Italy. 
Natural fiber production is a fast-growing sector.  The United Nations have declared 2009 the Year of Natural Fibers and the F.A.O. actively supports the decision of the UN’s General Assembly to increase consumer and company awareness regarding the importance of natural fibers for both the world economy and human health. 

The production cycle that springs from this point of view, starts from the world of agriculture and reaches the world of couture where the use of skillful hands makes possible the production of typical fabrics – in this case, Tuscan ones – like the casentino that brings to mind humble clothing: in the beginning, it was used only for peasants’ and shepherds’ heavy cloaks, coats and capes.
At the end of the 19th century, it was used for men’s heavy jackets; then in the 1930s-40s it was discovered by some men who were keen on elegance and their ladies for use in extremely classic casual overcoats but made remarkable by its two main colors: orange and bright green. 
Today the casentino fabric has been subdued; it is a lighter-weight, softer fabric and some colors have been added to its range: beige, blue, black and white. 
Warm fabric, light-weight pure wool, soft with its famous curls, the result of the friezing process, that is one of the many processes during the 13 steps of production. 

For the first time, I will offer a casentino overcoat pleated for its entire length. 
It is a kind of experimentation that, from an artisanal production point of view, has always marked my creation, where the material is dignified since the fabric is no longer only manufactured and used at a couture level, but it becomes an element in a project with a precise purpose at structural level. 
This operation makes the fabric a symbol of the value of quality craftsmanship.  The promotion of creativity and innovation make the concept of sustainability concrete, creating a synergy between the agricultural and manufacturing worlds.

by Roberto Capucci

read more: www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com