Carlo Capasa: “In Italy we try to create dreams”
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Recently we all welcomed the decision of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana to urge fashion houses to stop using fur. A few days ago, the two most significant representatives of fashion organizations in Europe, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (Milan) and the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (Paris) signed a major Memorandum of Understanding during the France-Italy Summit.
This agreement followed their May 2026 launch of a shared ESG Harmonization Framework, designed to unify environmental, social, and governance standards and reduce the administrative burden on supply chain workshops across both fashion capitals. The President of the organization Mr Carlo Capasa gave L’Officiel Arabia an exclusive interview about the documentary “Grand Tour. Journey through the Academies of Arts and Crafts” and his vision of a sustainable future in fashion.
Pinelopi Papanikolaou: Having watched the documentary, we had a sense of connection. What was the message you meant to convey?
Carlo Capasa: It was a documentary made in the fashion houses and their academies dedicated to transmit the knowledge of the artisans. People from everywhere take courses and learn how to make a jacket, how to make a jewel, how to make shoes, how to make everything.
What is incredible is the enthusiasm of the new generations of learning something special. To be an artisan, you need a mix of creativity and ability. Creativity and ability together create something unique. This uniqueness is at the bottom of fashion.
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Is this the secret of Italian fashion? Cause Milan is one of the major fashion capitals in the world and it has been one for decades.
Milan represents this incredible fashion culture of Italy. Fashion can answer the need to create dreams. In Italy we try to create dreams. But to create those dreams, creativity and organization are essential to produce something that is durable and of high quality.
So here comes the industry. We have 60.000 companies and 600.000 employees. Small businesses that work together in districts. In one, they only make silk. In another, only shoes. Everything is handcrafted and knowledge is passed on from one generation to the other since the renaissance. Putting this together we have the system that is constantly evolving forming the uniqueness of “made in Italy”. Made of creativity and artisans.
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You became President of Camera della Moda Italiana 11 years ago. What were the pillars that you based the plans of relaunching Italian fashion?
First and most important, environmental and social sustainability. The second pillar was education as well as promoting new brands. We cannot think of the future without working with the new generation of creative people. And then the other pillar was obviously the narrative. Whatever we do, we have to tell a story.
Sometimes in Italy we are very good at producing goods but not always good at telling the story. Look at the French, for example. They are very good at storytelling. In Italy, we are getting better and better but normally we were more concentrated on the product than on telling the story of the product.
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What is your strategy on this?
Camera della Moda works very hard both on storytelling and education. We organize exhibitions, filmed the documentary you watched and use all digital media to tell people who we are.
We represent fashion everywhere and also are in contact with all the other fashion associations around the world. This is another pillar, added to the ones mentioned already, which is very important for our association. And on those pillars we base Camera de la Moda. When I arrived, I had a very clear idea about that.
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So having put so much emphasis on sustainability, what was that turning point that you realized that it was not an option, it was essential we should go this way?
Fashion is highly responsible for pollution, especially fast fashion, because there are a lot of clothes used for very short time. We work on how fashion will be less polluting, less aggressive for our environmental, for our planet. The chemical aspect is the most urgent in my opinion and we have already created guidelines for chemicals both in the product and used in the production process. Durability is also a key factor. This is where high quality fashion is valuable.
Social sustainability is another issue to be dealt. People are exploited and mistreated in many countries. So we said we have to be very strong on creating a system where people are respected. This is very important for fashion today. We are working on it, collaborating with government and trying to raise public awareness.
There is also the Eco Design Forum where we work on promoting our values for a sustainable future. Today, fashion must be responsible. And I hope that also fast fashion changed their attitude and become more responsible, especially towards people. I hope that they will change the approach, becoming less fast because this is what our planet needs.
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But you have also got to give it a very glamorous twist because you have the Sustainability Awards attracting attention and celebrities. We see that it's some form of a red carpet though it's kind of a green one, right?
We felt there was a necessary. We wanted to say sustainability can be glamorous. Until recently, people that thought sustainability was something very dull. We said no, you can be very glamorous, very beautiful wearing clothes, shoes, bags, that they are sustainable.
So we invented this “green” carpet, like the Oscars of sustainable fashion and they became very popular. We have awarded famous brands but also companies that nobody even knew. This happened in Italy, at the beautiful La Scala in Milan. And we are very proud of this.
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Another thing that we saw in your documentary is that you have worked very, very hard on building an international line of work. So what is it that driven by and what were the challenges?
Fashion is a world community. We need to create bridges among people. When you go in a design office or in a company, you see people arriving from everywhere in the world. They arrive in Italy and want to work as you saw in the documentary.
They want to participate to this beauty of creating fashion. And we are very open for that. Fashion doesn't care where you come from, what your religion or sexual orientation is. It looks only at talent, creativity and the wish to participate to this incredible community.
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Are there any other initiatives that you organize or enjoy that you have taken on?
We have many things as an association. We have Milano Fashion Institute, a business school where we approach the business aspect of fashion. A very important school that we are very proud of. But we also cooperate with all fashion schools in Italy because we believe that education is vital to create new generation.
Another thing that we do is the Camera Moda Fashion Trust. What we do is that every year we take 10 designers and we do mentoring and tutoring on fifty women who help those designers to establish their business. Those women also become ambassadors of the brands. Every year, we award four of those 10 designers providing an amount of money to organize a fashion show or develop their brand.
We also have this program collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign affairs to promote Italian fashion globally through our embassies with events, exhibitions and speeches. The famous storytelling we said at the beginning.
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What would you advise someone who wants to become a fashion designer or a craftsman?
At first, I would advise to attend a good school. I highly believe in the value of education. Then, practice. Try to learn the ropes of fashion next to someone you like and respect. When you start your own company, try to be very coherent and authentic. It's a journey. You have to arrive there when you are ready and when you start to have a clear idea about what you want to say.
Creativity is important, but also organization and distribution. When you look at Italian brands, there was always one strong creative mind and one strong manager.. Look at Armani with Mr. Gagliotti or Versace and his brother Santo. Never can one person play both roles. Make sure that those two aspects are well covered. A strong company takes two to tango.
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So now that fashion is going all these changes and all these challenges, we have AI taking over, we have social media changing the way we communicate or the way we dress. Do you think that all this technology is actually a threat to fashion?
I think we have to face the fact that this technology exists. And so we have to find how we could work to make fashion better. I think from one perspective this makes craftsmanship even more important. On the other hand, I think that the industry has to become more digital but in the right way. It is this balance, the artificial intelligence and the artisan intelligence, those two AIs that we need.
In fashion, there is a moment when the designer says “I want to change everything”. This makes fashion recreating itself all the time. Human intelligence sets the rules and changes the rules. And this change of the rules is important for creative fashion. Without human intelligence, we cannot change. We can live with two AIs, but not with one. Not the one that's not ours.
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We have to admit that we are going through a tough period. There are wars, people feel scared. Do you think that fashion can be a glimmer of hope in this very, very unstable period?
You know, fashion in history has been through even harder periods than the one we are experiencing. And yet, it reinvented itself. Fashion is positive, fashion is hope. It is the means to imagine a better future.
Even at this moment, fashion can play an important role. To reborn in a good way, with good values. Creating communities and sharing. The power of fashion is bringing different people closer to create something unique, like the beauty of a forest consisting of different plants. We have to believe that this is a lesson for all of us to imagine a better future where creativity is at the center, where positivity is at the center.
Photo Credits: milanfashionweek / cameramoda.
