Meet Stefano Costabile & Steven Hats

Once again I must thank the internet and social media for introducing me to a gentleman and his exquisitely specialized product. Stefano Costabile (Steven) and I met on Facebook where my attention was caught by his hats. Personally, I find hats to be an almost necessity in winter and a wonderful accessory at any other time of year. 

designer: click image to enlarge

What struck me most about his work is that it just doesn’t look like every one else’s hats that one can find here in the USA. The styling, construction and fabric selection, including leather, are quite different from the general assortment that is available. Here in this country it’s all about baseball caps and knit “stocking caps” at lack of a better descriptor.

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Stefano Costabile is both milliner and sculptor. He produces women’s creations much in the feeling of the great fantasy milliners being that each one is a sort of sculpture and fantasy of his own creation and imagination. In a fashion world where lately fitting in has become more important than standing out, Stefano’s product is unquestionably one that rises above the crowd and demands to be noticed. 

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Before I introduce you to Stefan I urge you to have a look at what he does on his website (www.stevenshats.com) and find out why I feel so blessed to not only know him but to wear and own his unique product. 

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Jeffrey Felner: Can you tell us how it came to be that you are now a hat maker/milliner?

 Stefano Costabile: I attended Liceo Artistico (high school specializing in art subjects) and the Academy of Fine Arts. I used to be a painter, sculptor and a scenographer. Some years later I felt I wanted more in terms of both money and personal satisfaction. I was looking for something to sell, but it had to be special. So I joined all my past experience and I thought about hats. It was a real challenge: in the South of Italy nobody had seen a milliner before. So I started to invest my time in discovering the world of hats that I have been wearing since I was I child. I travelled around Italy - Alessandria, Monza and Florence - where I learned how to use the felt machine.

Basically, for me, it represented a personal challenge aimed at verifying how good can be a man who has decided to re-invent himself. In order to become a hatter/milliner I had to revise my previous knowledge and create my own techniques, from tailoring to the plasticity of matter. I was looking for my own personal style. But, above all, I am an autodidact. So, if as a craftsman, I repair things, as an artist I make straw Sculptures for important events, such as the Melbourne Cup.

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JF: Do you have any style icons or mentors that have influenced you and your work over the years and why did you choose them?

SC: There are no icons, actually. But I was fascinated by Galliano and Jones on the occasion of their collaboration with Dior. It was fundamental for my culture and work. The same happened with Treacy moving from Lady Gaga to Armani.

I have observed all my potential inspirers, but nobody has really influenced my work. I looked at them, I thought about their techniques, but then I had to reset that knowledge in order to find my own identity. I perceive myself as an 'unfiltered' artist and I experience the emotion of art entirely: a hat is not merely a hat - it is the source of my thoughts' inspiration, of my cultural references, my own ideas, of the concept that I want to express.

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?

SC: Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani and Nicole Kidman.

It would be an explosion of style in my head!

So much mastery and elegance around my table! Wow! It would be amazing, dear Jeffrey!

Then she...Nicole; her style makes me crazy, her charming way to be a woman.
Wow! I can't think about it! It would be a wonderful dream!

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JF: What makes your product different than your competition and why do you choose this way?

SC: Firstly, I work felt by hand, trying to not alter the nap.

As regards couture, I work tailoring tissues. 

I use various assembly techniques when I make my hats/cups. For example, I do not iron or steam them. I only use my hands and my sewing machine; I complete all my hats with sartorial method, so they are soft to the touch and as comfortable and easy to wear as a stocking hat.

I have created my own way to work straw, so it is different from the others.

This is the reason why I feel different, even if I have not earned a penny in this world...but I believe I could achieve my goal because I am different, so unique.

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JF: What is the long range plan for your product? … Any other type of products or distribution and why?

SC: I am looking into many areas which might lead to improve my production and make my own brand a real matter. I would like to teach my artisan techniques in order to bring again a handmade product with my techniques and high quality tissues (to make a hat takes me 15/18 minutes). I would like to collaborate with tailor's shops to create hats 'made to measure'.

When I went to Australia I gave birth to a collaboration that regards my sculptures and ceremonial/wedding hats.

But, after eleven years, I am still an artist looking for fortune.

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Cappelleria Artigianale

Steven’s Hats di Stefano Costabile
via Panebianco 350

Cosenza +393381178574

www.stevenshats.com
Info@stevenshats.com

Philip Treacy.. master of design

Philip Treacy is one of the most prolific, creative and imaginative designers that our present world of fashion has ever produced. While his responses may be brief they are none the less quite potent in their content.

Mr. Treacy will always be remembered for his longtime friendship with Isabella Blow and perhaps it is she who catapulted him into the white hot light of fashion. He has endured far longer than most designers and he is still very much the go to resource for some of the greatest designers of our era. Mr. Treacy stands alone in this arena of fashion and one of the very few who can proudly be referred to as “trendless!”

My oft used phrase of “designers who design” is possibly more applicable here with him than with 95% of the population who inhabit this milieu. He is above all a createur with boundless imagination and infinite capabilities. He has created the millinery needs of some of the world’s greatest luminaries whether they be the English royals or the royals of the music business. 

Marc-Antoine Coulon

While you may not have known his name, you have surely seen his mastery on display in countless magazines and on the heads of the cognoscenti of fashion. Words of praise fall short in properly describing the prodigious output of this man. He is one of the very very few who one might call truly deem as a fashion genius!

My advice is to listen up to what he has to say and to revel in the beauty that belongs to Philip Treacy.

JF--What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

PT-My Alexander McQueen suits, he gave me.

JF-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships? Loyalty

JF-What is your bliss?

PT-Inventing hats

JF-What is your guilty secret?

PT-I think about new hats all day long

JF-Where is your ideal home?

PT-London, it’s a fantasy.

JF-What do you wear to bed?

PT-Not much

JF-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

PT-originality

JF-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

PT-Isabella Blow

JF-What is the best advice you ever received?

PT-Make hats.

JF-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

PT-Trendless, open, marketing

14-If you were a retailer; would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store?

 PT-yes

or where would you shop?

PT-Harrods

JF-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

PT-Plants. I love gardening

JF-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

Marilyn PT-Monroe and Michael Jackson

JF-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

PT-Legend / Tom Cruise

JF-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

PT-The people I work with, I trust them

JF-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

PT-It’s all legible

JF-Do you have a dream collaborator?

PT-Marlene Dietrich

JF-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

PT-Surviving as a hat designer in the 21^st century

JF-What’s your music library like?

PT-Chaotic

JF-What and where is your favorite meal?

PT-Anything my partner Stefan cooks

Meet Philip Treacy.. legend of fashion .. modern master

There are so few designers ... of anything... who reach career highs within their lifetime and remain there. We are not talking about the “pets” or the media darlings who have PR machines and corporate money behind them, I speak of independent super talents who achieved this designation or plateau with their god given talents … my focus is Philip Treacy.  Today it is all about celebrating a creative wunderkind who knows no bounds and who is instantly synonymous with his métier. As far as I can see, this is a man of epic talent and endless imagination who creates for runways, royalty and never ever the run of the mill!! While he may be a bit brief in his replies to my questions he is wildly prolific in his output! What needs to be considered he is one question and one reply…. “What is your bliss?” and the reply is inventing hats!! Please take note of the choice of words here as they are so very telling of the man!! … Inventing!!!! Bravo !

-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

My Alexander McQueen suits, he gave me.

-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?  

Loyalty

-What is your bliss?

Inventing hats

-What is your guilty secret?

I think about new hats all day long

-Where is your ideal home?

London, it’s a fantasy.

-What do you wear to bed?

Not much

-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

Originality

-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

Isabella Blow

-What is the best advice you ever received?

Make hats.

-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

Trendless, open, marketing

14-If you were a retailer; would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store?

Yes

Or where would you shop?

Harrods

-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

Plants. I love gardening

-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson

-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

Legend / Tom Cruise

-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

 The people I work with, I trust them

-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

It’s all legible

-Do you have a dream collaborator?

Marlene Dietrich

-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

Surviving as a hat designer in the 21^st century

-What’s your music library like?

Chaotic

-What and where is your favorite meal?

Anything my partner Stefan cooks