Francisco Costa
Encyclopedia
Francisco Costa Brazil
is the Women's Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection
. Costa won the Council of Fashion Designers America (CFDA) award
for Womenswear Designer of the Year in June 2006 as well as in June 2008. Costa also won the National Design Award in 2009 in the category of Fashion Design.
, Brazil
, where his mother, Maria-Francisca, owned a children's wear factory. She began her business producing dresses commissioned by a traveling salesman. Costa's father, Jacy Neves da Costa, ran a small ranch. In his hometown of 8,000 people, Costa put on fashion shows for charities. His size is compact and he has brown eyes. Being civic minded by nature, his mother was like the mayor of the town. She presided over her family. Costa remembers there being fifteen people at his family's lunch table.
Following his mother's death in 1981, he left with a friend for New York City
in 1985. He was twenty-one and spoke no English at the time. He enrolled in a language class at Hunter College
and took courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology
at night. He obtained employment with Herbert Rounick, whose Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
company made dresses for Oscar de la Renta
and Bill Blass
. Costa went to work for de la Renta after Rounick's death, designing for the firm's Japanese licenses. Costa credits de la Renta with teaching him the most about both designing clothes and life. He remained with the company for five years.
, brought Costa's name to Klein's attention in 2001. Costa became the principal designer for the women's Calvin Klein Collection
at the age of 39, in September 2003. Earlier in the year Klein sold his company to Phillips-Van Heusen for approximately $730 million. Costa joined the Klein design group in 2001 after working for Gucci
, where he was an assistant to
Tom Ford
. Their first collaboration is known as the Cher Collection. Costa was mentioned as a possible replacement when Ford retired from designing for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, in late 2003.
sensuality in sexual imagery as opposed to the more explicit ads used to market Calvin Klein clothes formerly.
For 2004 his models
wore stretch bras and underpants in foundation colors. Costa utilized a clingy, transparent material for daytime skirts. He combined them with cashmere tops, which sometimes gave the look an artificial quality. Costa's loose cotton shorts, modelled with cardigan
sweaters, were layered over rumpled white shirts and men's ribbed undershirts. This look reflected the late 1970s styles when designers like Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis
came to prominence.
Costa maintains a ledger-size mood book in his studio. In early 2004 photographs of horses by Max Eastman
appeared frequently in these volumes. Costa is inspired by the coats of horses, especially in his palettes of sepia
and cream. The textures of his collection owe much to pony skin, alpaca
, and leather. He enjoys photographs of Lauren Hutton
and Charlotte Rampling
from the 1970s, particularly ones which have them posed in close proximity with ponies and stallions. Costa said, These women are thoroughbreds.
In the fall of 2004 Costa introduced washed silk dresses and black wool felt coats. The clothing was given weight by the librarian brogue heel, variations of which first appeared at Calvin Klein. The style was exceedingly popular during both the Paris, France and Milan, Italy shows.
In his collection for Spring 2005 Costa showed a sea-green silk dress wrapped like a towel. An alternative of the dress, of like color and style, was unveiled on the runway
in September 2004. The silk dress was coveted by many buyers and was shipped to stores in the late fall and early winter.
The original inspiration for this collection were primitive wood sculptures by Brancusi. After spending a week in Wyoming
Costa aspired to capture the surreal hues of green, blue, and orange, which he had observed juxtaposed with the western landscape at Yellowstone National Park
. Costa purchased silk and
viscose
jersey (clothing)
in the garment center of New York City
. He had these dyed to match the colors he had photographed in Wyoming. Next he pinned the fabrics on a model, blending and shaping the patterns until he was pleased with their natural effect. The evening dresses he designed
were uncomplicated. They were based on a trapeze, combining viscose jersey with silk to make them appear lively.
Vogue
and Harper's Bazaar
chose a lime green dress worn by Elle Macpherson
as a highlight of 2005. Both publications named her to their best dressed lists after she wore the Costa design, which she combined with casual flats. Macpherson asked Costa to pick the color and he selected lime green. It was especially attractive on her because of her skin color.
Costa's new collection for Calvin Klein was criticized by critic, Cathy Horyn
, for conveying largely a surface beauty. She wrote about his February 2006 showing in the New York Times. It featured dresses with many layers of black chiffon and tulle. Horn pointed out that Calvin Klein is a sportswear house, not a dress house, and Costa is gifted with a talent for designing sportswear. His collection was reminiscent of the 1930s, with shapes which were long and relaxed. The models wore chiffon bras with tiny handkerchief points of chiffon on their dresses, which extended nakedly across their backs. Horn wondered if many women would not find the fashions untenable and fussy, if not stifling."
In May 2006 Costa served as chairman of a benefit for the Whitney Museum of American Art
. He conceived a project for the museum which created art out of fashion. He approached artists Ghada Amer, Vik Muniz, and Billy Sullivan about making art which would be clearly identified with fashion. After showing at the Whitney Art Party, the work was moved and displayed in the windows of the Calvin Klein boutique on Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
.
Costa designed a line of long slim dresses and pantsuits which were introduced in September 2007. They were constructed of white stretch cotton. His collection featured long stretch silk T-shirts in egg-wash shades of green or blue. The colors accentuated the refreshing impression of the lines, especially Costa's spare evening halters worn with high-waist silk trousers and a strapless dress of pale jade organza. Reviewer Horyn had only one
criticism of a collection she believes will gain more meaning with time. This was Costa's failure to notice that the hemlines of his dresses should have been longer.
, where the latter had horses running in the eighth and ninth races. Costa and DeStefano met at George Smith, the furniture store where Costa worked on Saturdays to supplement the salary he earned on Seventh Avenue.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
is the Women's Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection
Calvin Klein Collection
Calvin Klein Collection is the brand name for the costly high-end designer menswear and womenswear lines from fashion house Calvin Klein.Designer apparel, dresses, coats, dress shirts, eyewear, footwear and leather goods are sold under this 'black label' line which represents the top level in the...
. Costa won the Council of Fashion Designers America (CFDA) award
Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. is a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers. As of 2009, Diane von Fürstenberg is the group's President and Steven Kolb is the Executive Director...
for Womenswear Designer of the Year in June 2006 as well as in June 2008. Costa also won the National Design Award in 2009 in the category of Fashion Design.
Youth, education, and training
Costa is the second youngest of five children. He grew up in GuaraniGuarani, Minas Gerais
Guarani is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The population in 2004 was 8,763. This place name comes from the Tupi language.-See also:* List of municipalities in Minas Gerais...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where his mother, Maria-Francisca, owned a children's wear factory. She began her business producing dresses commissioned by a traveling salesman. Costa's father, Jacy Neves da Costa, ran a small ranch. In his hometown of 8,000 people, Costa put on fashion shows for charities. His size is compact and he has brown eyes. Being civic minded by nature, his mother was like the mayor of the town. She presided over her family. Costa remembers there being fifteen people at his family's lunch table.
Following his mother's death in 1981, he left with a friend for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1985. He was twenty-one and spoke no English at the time. He enrolled in a language class at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
and took courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
at night. He obtained employment with Herbert Rounick, whose Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
company made dresses for Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
and Bill Blass
Bill Blass
William Ralph "Bill" Blass was an American fashion designer, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is known for his tailoring and his innovative combinations of textures and patterns...
. Costa went to work for de la Renta after Rounick's death, designing for the firm's Japanese licenses. Costa credits de la Renta with teaching him the most about both designing clothes and life. He remained with the company for five years.
Women's Creative Director, Calvin Klein Collection
Klein's partner, Barry SchwartzBarry K. Schwartz
Barry K. Schwartz is an American businessman, Thoroughbred racehorse owner, and a former horse racing industry executive. The son of a grocer who was murdered when Barry was twenty-one-years old, Schwartz grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx...
, brought Costa's name to Klein's attention in 2001. Costa became the principal designer for the women's Calvin Klein Collection
Calvin Klein Collection
Calvin Klein Collection is the brand name for the costly high-end designer menswear and womenswear lines from fashion house Calvin Klein.Designer apparel, dresses, coats, dress shirts, eyewear, footwear and leather goods are sold under this 'black label' line which represents the top level in the...
at the age of 39, in September 2003. Earlier in the year Klein sold his company to Phillips-Van Heusen for approximately $730 million. Costa joined the Klein design group in 2001 after working for Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
, where he was an assistant to
Tom Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...
. Their first collaboration is known as the Cher Collection. Costa was mentioned as a possible replacement when Ford retired from designing for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, in late 2003.
Awards
- Cooper-Hewitt National Fashion Design Award, 2009
- Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Womenswear Designer of the Year, 2006 and 2008
Fashion collections 2004–2007
He emphasized trouser suits for women as opposed to ruffles in the spring 2004 collections. His creations stress the idea of freedom in dress with female underpinnings. With evening dresses Costa's designs reveal both flesh and underpants, often accentuated by the cool hues of the sea. He is not uptight concerning nudity and lingerie. Costa preferssensuality in sexual imagery as opposed to the more explicit ads used to market Calvin Klein clothes formerly.
For 2004 his models
wore stretch bras and underpants in foundation colors. Costa utilized a clingy, transparent material for daytime skirts. He combined them with cashmere tops, which sometimes gave the look an artificial quality. Costa's loose cotton shorts, modelled with cardigan
Cardigan (sweater)
A cardigan is a type of machine- or hand-knitted sweater that ties, buttons or zips down the front; by contrast, a pullover does not open in front but must be "pulled over" the head to be worn. The cardigan was named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British military commander,...
sweaters, were layered over rumpled white shirts and men's ribbed undershirts. This look reflected the late 1970s styles when designers like Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis
Perry Ellis
Perry Ellis was an American fashion designer who founded a sportswear house in the mid-1970s.-The rise of Perry Ellis:...
came to prominence.
Costa maintains a ledger-size mood book in his studio. In early 2004 photographs of horses by Max Eastman
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes...
appeared frequently in these volumes. Costa is inspired by the coats of horses, especially in his palettes of sepia
Sepia (color)
Sepia is a dark brown-grey color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Greek σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish.-Sepia in human culture:...
and cream. The textures of his collection owe much to pony skin, alpaca
Alpaca
An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of to above sea level, throughout the year...
, and leather. He enjoys photographs of Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
and Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling, OBE is an English actress. Her career spans four decades in English-language as well as French and Italian cinema.- Early life :...
from the 1970s, particularly ones which have them posed in close proximity with ponies and stallions. Costa said, These women are thoroughbreds.
In the fall of 2004 Costa introduced washed silk dresses and black wool felt coats. The clothing was given weight by the librarian brogue heel, variations of which first appeared at Calvin Klein. The style was exceedingly popular during both the Paris, France and Milan, Italy shows.
In his collection for Spring 2005 Costa showed a sea-green silk dress wrapped like a towel. An alternative of the dress, of like color and style, was unveiled on the runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
in September 2004. The silk dress was coveted by many buyers and was shipped to stores in the late fall and early winter.
The original inspiration for this collection were primitive wood sculptures by Brancusi. After spending a week in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
Costa aspired to capture the surreal hues of green, blue, and orange, which he had observed juxtaposed with the western landscape at Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
. Costa purchased silk and
viscose
Viscose
Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Viscose is becoming synonymous with rayon, a soft material commonly used in shirts, shorts, coats, jackets, and other outer wear.-Manufacture:...
jersey (clothing)
Jersey (clothing)
A jersey is an item of knitted clothing, traditionally in wool or cotton, with sleeves, worn as a pullover, as it does not open at the front, unlike a cardigan. It is usually close-fitting and machine knitted in contrast to a guernsey that is more often hand knit with a thicker yarn...
in the garment center of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He had these dyed to match the colors he had photographed in Wyoming. Next he pinned the fabrics on a model, blending and shaping the patterns until he was pleased with their natural effect. The evening dresses he designed
were uncomplicated. They were based on a trapeze, combining viscose jersey with silk to make them appear lively.
Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
chose a lime green dress worn by Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson
Elle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
as a highlight of 2005. Both publications named her to their best dressed lists after she wore the Costa design, which she combined with casual flats. Macpherson asked Costa to pick the color and he selected lime green. It was especially attractive on her because of her skin color.
Costa's new collection for Calvin Klein was criticized by critic, Cathy Horyn
Cathy Horyn
Cathy Horyn is an American fashion journalist, working as the fashion critic for The New York Times where she also keeps a highly noted and provocative blog called...
, for conveying largely a surface beauty. She wrote about his February 2006 showing in the New York Times. It featured dresses with many layers of black chiffon and tulle. Horn pointed out that Calvin Klein is a sportswear house, not a dress house, and Costa is gifted with a talent for designing sportswear. His collection was reminiscent of the 1930s, with shapes which were long and relaxed. The models wore chiffon bras with tiny handkerchief points of chiffon on their dresses, which extended nakedly across their backs. Horn wondered if many women would not find the fashions untenable and fussy, if not stifling."
In May 2006 Costa served as chairman of a benefit for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
. He conceived a project for the museum which created art out of fashion. He approached artists Ghada Amer, Vik Muniz, and Billy Sullivan about making art which would be clearly identified with fashion. After showing at the Whitney Art Party, the work was moved and displayed in the windows of the Calvin Klein boutique on Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
.
Costa designed a line of long slim dresses and pantsuits which were introduced in September 2007. They were constructed of white stretch cotton. His collection featured long stretch silk T-shirts in egg-wash shades of green or blue. The colors accentuated the refreshing impression of the lines, especially Costa's spare evening halters worn with high-waist silk trousers and a strapless dress of pale jade organza. Reviewer Horyn had only one
criticism of a collection she believes will gain more meaning with time. This was Costa's failure to notice that the hemlines of his dresses should have been longer.
Private life
As of May 2004 Costa's partner was horse trainer John DeStefano Jr. The two had been together fourteen years. Costa donned a coat and tie to join DeStefano for opening day at Belmont ParkBelmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
, where the latter had horses running in the eighth and ninth races. Costa and DeStefano met at George Smith, the furniture store where Costa worked on Saturdays to supplement the salary he earned on Seventh Avenue.