The cap, a historical symbol
- Couture caps are Giuseppe's trademark
- It can take up to 200 hours to create one cap
- Oprah Winfrey once sent him a personalised 'thank you' card
With a background in fashion, a Masters degree from the Italian Istituto Marangoni and celebrated tailoring skills, in 2019 Giuseppe Savoca decided it was time to focus on something specific: couture caps. He says that his hands “were missing some moves” and that he was missing the emotions he used to feel in previous roles. Starting work on couture caps offered him the way to express his creativity and dexterity to combine two different crafts into one. For Giuseppe, the cap is in fact “one of the last fully embraced urban accessories of the early 21st century. I love the idea that it carries a dialogue between history and the future, streets and salons, décor and purpose." He sees it as a shape that has "the magnetism to bring people together through craftsmanship."
Interview
- Where does the idea of couture caps come from?
- When I was visiting the Castle of Gruyères in Switzerland, I saw some beautiful highly embellished caps that were worn by cavaliers from Burgundy at the time they conquered the estate. Those garments were their way to establish the new power to the locals. Having a background in history of fashion, I was interested to know more about the evolution of garments used for political purposes and I wondered what was used today.
- Why are you so fascinated by caps?
- Strangely, I am not fascinated by caps. I am interested in the work I put in to them. In the end, it is all about the language of craftsmanship — body + object in symbiosis. Lots of milliners play with volumes and see their hats like ‘bouquets’ but to me it is the opposite, it is about bringing people in.
- You say, "I use my caps as a basis to testify savoir-faire." What do you mean by that?
- I love to think that my work embeds three timeline axes: the past, in the craftsmanship of the old techniques I use; the present, in the modernity of the social and political symbolism that the cap as a shape represents; and the future, because such a piece can be worn or appreciated timelessly. Testifying savoir-faire is about empowering people by witnessing high crafts to acquire knowledge.
- Why did Oprah Winfrey send you a personalised 'thank you' card?
- In 2014, I was in charge of creating a dress for Oprah for the BAFTA’s red carpet, based on a stylist’s design. My role was to rework the original lines to make a dress to measure for her. I had only 24 hours to make it perfect. Everyone was very impressed by the quality and the tailoring skills to accomplish such transformation in such a short amount of time.
Giuseppe Savoca is a master artisan: he began his career in 2010 and he started teaching in 2014
Where
Giuseppe Savoca
