Q & A with Costello Tagliapietra

In spring 2006, Costello Tagliapietra showcased their first collection in New York and have since won the 2005 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award and their designs have been included in an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert in London. Jeffrey Costello and his partner, Robert Tagliapietra were both taught the art of tailoring by their grandmothers, whom in turn both worked for Norman Norell in the 1960’s.

Have you both always wanted to be fashion designers?
Jeffrey:
I’ve wanted to be a fashion designer for as long as I can remember although I toyed with the idea of being an art therapist when I was in high school. In the end fashion won out.

Robert:
No, I went back and forth… originally it was between being a lawyer or a painter or being in a band. I ended up studying painting and now I am in fashion?

When did you first get that moment where you knew what direction to take the new Spring 2008 collection?
While in London, our friends Nick and Heidi Griffiths(with whom we were staying with) had shown us Helene Schjerfbeck’s catalog from their recent trip to Finland.
Her colors were so beautiful and emotive and her reductive portraits were so in line to the way we design.

You have said that you were inspired by the portraits of the Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck and the twenties fashion illustrations by the Viennese artist Ernst Dryden. What is it about paintings and drawings that enthuse you to bring them into a three dimensional art form? Do you consider yourselves artists?
We never call what we do proper art.
Fashion is such a commercially based business; we are, after all concerned with many factors other than the simply the creative. Being a business where we are immediately reliant on sales, growth and therefore buyers/clients you do not have the exact freedom as visual artists do. Maybe the closest fashion has to art is couture… that is not to say that what we do is not artistic.

Your color palettes are so distinguished each season, how do you find that perfect color for your dresses?
It is very instinctual, color is really important to what we do. Both of us have backgrounds in painting so choosing the season’s color palette becomes very inspirational for the collection. For us, there is something nostalgic about them; like a memory of a color rather than something generic. A red is never just a red, a blue is not just blue, we like to create colors that have some meaning to us and the person who is wearing it….

Would you ever consider designing for men?
Yes, of course. As the business grows this is certainly a category that we would love to explore.

How has success and recognition changed your lives?
It is always a bit surreal to be recognized but sweet at the same time.
We really appreciate hearing from people who connect to what we do.

You both have your studios in Brooklyn, why Brooklyn and not Manhattan?
Mainly out of convenience and space.
This business needs constant attention and working out of our home makes it easiest on us in a lot of ways.
We were working out of our apartment in the beginning and now it has become convenient and quite natural for us.

If you couldn’t live in NYC, what other city in the states do you think you could live and create your collections?
We probably could not live in any other city in the US, the only other city we could think of would be London.
There is a real appreciation of the arts there and a lot of monetary and business based support for new labels.

Do you both listen to music while you are designing? What are you both listening to right now?
Yes, all of the time. Music is very inspirational to our work.
Right now, we are always listening to a lot of Joy Division, Early Talking Heads, Final Fantasy, Cocteau Twins, Editors, Blood Brothers and Pixies.