Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion

Dilys E. Blum

Hardcover | 26 x 1.9 x 30.5 cm | 220 pp

Yale University Press | 2011 | 9780300169584

A stunning survey of the work of renowned Italian fashion designer Roberto revered by contemporary fashion designers for his innovative silhouettes and masterful use of colour and materials. Capucci refers to his creations as "studies in form," and draws inspiration from a multitude of sources, including art, architecture, and nature.

This beautifully illustrated book, the companion to the first exhibition of Capucci's work in the United States, examines his career from the 1950s to the present in the context of the rise of Italian fashion. Capucci's designs first captured the attention of the international press in 1951, when he presented his collection in Florence.

Considered one of Italy's greatest talents, he experimented with construction techniques and unconventional materials such as raffia, wire, and stones. He refused to compromise his artistic vision to commercial concerns, and after withdrawing from the formal fashion world in the early 1980s, he presented one collection a year, each in a different city around the world.

Featuring more than 80 extraordinary works, including the iconic "sculpture dresses" with their inventive use of pleating, colour, and form, Roberto Capucci is a captivating look at this brilliant designer who transcends the conventional line between fashion and art.