Antocostasette Milano was born to revisit the iconic fabric of the Scottish tradition, tartan, in a rock style. Tartan identifies the typical checked weave used to make the kilt, an identifying sign since the 17th century of the Scottish clans that populated the Highlands, who used this piece of cloth wrapped around the waist even in battles or while hunting.
Antocostasette Milano is more than a brand. It is the expression of an innate sense of fashion, of a forever young spirit, attracted by both history and culture of the Scottish Highlands.
Tartan is the leitmotif of a study launched to create unique, modern and comfortable pieces that can be adapted to different personalities and worn on different occasions. Each of the 7 models within the collection contains elements that can be traced back to this ancient fabric: elements of conciliation or contrast. Tartan, in fact, from the French word tiretaine, means “rough and woolly”, a contrast of sensation to the touch that can be recalled in some of the fabrics used in the collection, such as wool and silk.
A key element of reconciliation with tradition is represented by the skirt – maxi, midi and mini – in tartan pattern, which evokes the thick moors, heather and broom bushes that characterize the Scottish Highlands.
Interview with Antonella Costantino on The Old Now, 8 January 2019
Interview with Antonella Costantino on The Old Now, 8 January 2019
Antonella Costantino
Tartan like you’ve never seen it before
One of the characteristics that intrigued me the most about Antonella is her desire to discover and get to know the history and shape of the fabrics, to always delve deeper and let her curiosity proceed insatiably. Therefore, I could not miss the opportunity to interview her and immerse myself in her passion for fabrics and Scotland, which gives life to garments with a rock soul but at the same time rich in tradition.
Antonella: define yourself in 3 words and explain why.
Three words: Valeria Rossi’s song comes to mind… well for me: music, love, curiosity.
Music has always been present in my life, rock music to be precise, as an inseparable companion in any moment of life. With music I get up, work, walk, run, cry, laugh… with music I create (rock).
Love, the solution to all doubts in life is… love and you will understand. Sometimes it works, others it doesn’t. But you can’t always have everything.
Curious Observer, I’m an incurable curious, curiosity doesn’t put limits on you and is synonymous of freedom for me. Sometimes I risk being too superficial when rushing into something else though…
Antocostasette Milano: let’s start from your official name. Can you tell us how it was born and when?
Antocosta7 has always been my e-mail address, used for years.
It is nothing more than the abbreviation of my name and surname (Antonella Costantino) and the date of my birth day, 7 March, and above all a lucky number. People now call me Mrs. Costa, and new friends approach me with “Hey hello ANTOCOSTA”. I couldn’t use a different name for my brand. I added my dog Schwarzy as the symbol because since I started this project he has always been faithfully next to me. I couldn’t rule out loyalty.
Fashion, history and culture of the Scottish Highlands. How do you create and balance the mix of these three elements that apparently have nothing in common?
Tartan was already known in Scotland in the 16th century, it has always been linked to the oldest families in the Scottish Highlands, colonised by the Celts. The kilt, or petticoat or Gaelic “philibeg” dates back to the 18th century and here a whole world opens up…
The use of the Kilt at a certain point becomes a symbol of belonging to a Clan, to a certain territory of the Scottish Highlands. Symbol of pride of belonging. Indestructible fabric, pure wool. Used at first by the English nobility, it then gradually came to us in modern times and was also worn by Curt Cobain. In the movie Bravehearth worn as a kilt. In the 60s it appears as a sign of rebellion, especially in certain musical groups. Cindy Lauper wore it in the ’80s. In fashion, Gaultier, tartan dresses squeezed at the waist. Burberry’s trench coat, which has his own tartan. The undisputed queen of reworking Tartan is undoubtedlyVivienne Westwood, a Punk fashion icon in the 80s: there has always been her line – renewed every year – “anglomania” based on the tartan design.
Every original tartan design is registered in “The SCOTTISH REGISTER OF TARTANS”. There are about 4000 of them (not all of them on the market of course) So 4000 different colour mixes. How can fashion not fall in love with them?
What’s your favourite item to wear?
The long tartan skirt, the Maxi of the Macleod Clan (in yellow)
What is the item of clothing you most like to create for others?
Well, not to be repetitive, all the pieces I create are favourites. I create them for myself, I always wear them first, try them on, and then make them. Therefore, I produce them for others but also for me; for others mainly to make them feel well while wearing them. Right now the flannel dress is incredibly warm, almost relaxing…well, so are the flannel travel pants…all strictly tartan design.
What do you think are the three must-haves every woman should have in her closet?
Silk shirt, long tartan skirt, pure wool or cashmere cardigan.
Fashion is made in cycles: which trends do you expect to return and which ones would you never give up?
Yves Saint Laurent’s ’60s fashion, safari style dresses and jackets, wool trousers, flared trousers with lapels, and ’70s coats with round collars, again by Yves St. Laurent.
However, I can’t renounce to Vivienne Westwood’s extravagant and provocative style imbued with tradition and technique.
Tartan is a magic word in your life. Can you tell us a memory related to this fabric and why it became so important to you?
I’m the classic “little pain-in-the-ass” sister. When I was about 10 and she was 15, I always wanted to keep up with her. She had a friend in the building, they would meet at the top of the stairs or at her house. She was an only child, so she had a big room all to herself. Most of the time I was thrown out, of course, but she had something I loved: a wooden rocking chair all lined with tartan (and of course I don’t think I was ever allowed to sit in that chair). For years I carried with me the memory of that tartan armchair as something beautiful and impossible.
Then the love for Scotland awakened in me the love that I had never realized before. One day I decided to create clothes only with tartan design, the most beautiful.
Scotland: would you live there? what are you so fascinated by?
It’s my mental paradise. I haven’t discovered it all yet, but there is a bond with that land as with a distant lover. I have to go back there often and the search for fabrics for my collections grants me these truly regenerating research trips. The troubled history with the English, their continuous struggle for independence that they can’t get to this day, a land that the Romans have hardly penetrated and the nature imbued with fantasy are all fascinating elements that make Scotland a land that is to be discovered continuously.
The green color is predominant and is exterminated. Only in Edinburgh, which is the capital of Scotland, you can find woods, meadows, green hills (with the peak called Arthur’s Seat), and the Royal Botanical Garden. Edinburgh is fantastic and the greenery changes with a thousand shades during the year.
What is the question you would have liked to receive and the answer you would have given me?
Why I chose to be the designer of a clothing line right now…because I finally decided to face the biggest challenge: to turn my passion into a job.