Enter the dressmaker’s workshop Lorenzo Caprile It’s like entering the paradise of tulle and bustiers. There are coat racks everywhere. Party clothes, fabric samples from all over the world, silks, velvets, sequins, chiffons… Caprile’s world smells of creation and threads. In the bride’s salon, where the marriage brides and their advisors enter, the display of samples covers all tastes. Bodices that enhance the wasp waist and put the bust where it deserves, light chiffons that leave fluid silhouettes, veils, many veils, and even petticoats with can can to give the brides a lift.
Caprile’s were always very popular. It was not in vain that she made headlines by dressing Carla Royo Vilanova for the altar in her wedding with Kubrat of Bulgaria and then she made a big splash when she chose him for her wedding design, the Infanta Doña Cristina. But it was undoubtedly the iconic red dress worn by Queen Letizia at the wedding of Frederick and Mary of Denmark that made the world take notice of Caprile. There are many anecdotes left from that day and we talked about that in the interview. But also about his work in the musical The time between seams, where he made all the costumes for the protagonist of this story signed by María Dueñas. The production returns to the Madrid billboard starting next April 7 at the Teatro de La Latina.
The musical The time between seams It seems tailor-made for you. It doesn’t surprise me that they chose him to dress Sira Quiroga, the enigmatic woman from the successful novel by María Dueñas. How did they come to meet?
LC: For me it is an honor to do this work because who has not read this novel by María Dueñas. I confess that because of my good relationship with the publisher and María’s editor, they gave me the manuscript to ensure that everything related to fashion was well reported. Hence, my story with this work begins before it was published and became an absolute success. When the time came to adapt the play into a musical, I already knew the production company because I had worked with them on The doctor. They offered me to take care of all the costumes, but I didn’t have time because in those months I was fully immersed in the TVE program Sewing masters and it was impossible. We agreed that he would supervise the team and make the costumes only for the protagonist. That’s why my role in this musical is reduced to her and hence the work side by side. My first satisfaction came in the form of the Talía awards organized by Cayetana Guillén Cuervo when I received the award for the best costume.
She comes from a wealthy family where I don’t know how it felt when she said she wanted to dedicate herself to fashion.
LC: The one who opened that path in my house was my older brother Pascuale when he said he wanted to be a photographer. It was the year 76 and my father was impressed and asked him if he was going to be a wedding and communion photographer. He did have a hard time but with the help of my mother they ended up convincing my father and he was able to leave his Naval career. In a way he paved the way for me. That’s why when ten years later I announced that he wanted to dedicate myself to fashion, it no longer came as a surprise to him. What he did tell us, although it sounds very heteropatriarchal today, is that if we dedicated ourselves to these “strange professions” we were either first swords or we were going to have a sad life. We have seen many “broken dolls” in the world of songs, fashion, punctuation, cinema, directors… I think that in that sense we both fulfilled our objective. My brother was one of the great advertising photographers of the late 80s and 90s and I think I also have a career that is not bad at all.
He usually appears on lists of the most influential homosexuals in our country.
LC: They’ve been on those lists for years and I assure you that I don’t know what criteria they have because it’s one thing to be popular and another to be influential. I assure you that not even God knows influential and powerful homosexuals. I can read up to here. Popular people appear on those lists and occasionally a powerful person like Minister Marlaska sneaks in, but what you see most are media people rather than powerful ones.
You have become quite a media personality as a result of your participation in the TVE program but you have chosen to give a moody profile that those of us who have known you for years know is not very real.
LC: At Disney the famous ones are the villains. With that I explain it.
Are you still living in hotels and without a cell phone with Internet?
LC: I have my lifelong Nokia, which I wouldn’t change for anything in the world, but a year ago I left the hotel to settle in a very austere apartment. The hotel thing was a stage from which I have wonderful memories.
What historical character would you have liked to be?
LC: I would have been very happy in the golden age of Spanish sewing, which is the 50s and 60s. When people sewed in the workshops and people dressed up to go to the premiere at the Liceo or ordered a pichi to go down to the beach. .
How did the Spanish woman dress today?
LC: The Spanish, the Italian… today the Western world dresses with two or three global brands that we all know and everything seems very uniform to me with few nuances and differences.
Where is the iconic red dress that Letizia wore in Denmark?
LC: I think she has it.
Are royals grateful customers?
LC: A lot.
Who are the best clients?
LC: You get a lot of surprises with people and I couldn’t generalize. It is true that when I have worked with the Royal Family I assure you that everything has been much simpler than people think.
But he never dressed Letizia again and it was a “look” that no one forgets. What really happened?
LC: There are thousands of black legends that I neither want to confirm nor deny. I think I had my moment and now it is giving an opportunity to many firms that are starting out and in that sense I think it makes it phenomenal.
Would you like to dress Princess Leonor?
LC: I haven’t even thought about it. I see her still very young. She is now in the Army and we must let her enjoy this stage.
Where will your next project take you?
LC: The opera costumes A masked ball which will premiere at the end of April at the Palao de Valencia.
Are girlfriends still your forte?
LC: Of course. Look around you and you will see it.
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