{"id":2391,"date":"2021-12-28T10:09:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T09:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/?p=2391"},"modified":"2021-12-28T10:09:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T09:09:26","slug":"cloaked-in-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/2021\/12\/28\/cloaked-in-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloaked in tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Casa

Casa Sese\u00f1a. Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

No winter will ever be as cold with a Casa Sese\u00f1a<\/strong><\/a> cape draped over our shoulders. To this day, this Madrid-based century-old tailor continues to handcraft these exquisite garments worn by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Luis Bu\u00f1uel and Bruce Springsteen. This is a story we\u2019ll be telling for years to come.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI wish and ordain that all civilians and their domestic workers and housekeepers do not wear their usual livery. Short capes (at least one palm\u2019s span from the ground), redingot <\/em>(from the English, riding coat) or capingot <\/em>(sleeve-less riding coats) made from faux fur or real fur, and three-corned hats<\/a> must be worn, meaning no man\u2019s face or identity is concealed.\u201d These were the words of the proclamation issued on 10 March 1766 by the Italian Marquis of Esquilache<\/strong>, advisor to King Charles III of Spain.\u00a0 His aim was to eradicate the use of long capes and chambergos <\/em>(broad-brimmed hats), as these garments were thought to disguise a person\u2019s identity and facilitate the concealment of weapons. However, this reform caused great discontent among the population and was considered to be a way to force them to adopt foreign fashions. As we all know, this story ended in revolt. But what about capes, we hear you ask, did people stop wearing them? Well, initially, the garment was certainly worn less out of fear of the brigands. However, after some time in the 19th century, the vestment was reintroduced among the elite as a symbol of elegance and style.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

Capes are a type of loose, sleeveless garment worn over clothing; they are open at the front, have a fastener at the neck and get wider towards the bottom. Madrid, a city where the cape has always been part of its tradition, is home to a leading name when it comes to this popular garment: Casa Sese\u00f1a<\/strong>. Over a century old, this store was founded by Santos Sese\u00f1a in 1901 and is a place of living history in our city.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

With the turn of the century and the arrival of countless new fashion trends, other tailors began to stop making capes. Santos, however, not only decided to dedicate his business to the cape, he also enhanced the garment\u2019s design, adapting it to the new times, and acquired a fine reputation among the people of Madrid.<\/strong> What\u2019s more, his son Tom\u00e1s \u2013 who habitually spent time with people who greatly influenced culture \u2013 helped to introduce the cape to the international market.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

Back then, the family-run tailor shop made a range of clothing for men, including suits, overcoats and raincoats. However, it was Santos\u2019 widow Conchita D\u00edez, who was behind the brand\u2019s first women\u2019s collection, and their son Enrique who decided that the family-run tailor shop should specialise in what it did best. In the 60s, Casa Sese\u00f1a made the decision to exclusively manufacture capes and, in 1965, Enrique Sese\u00f1a opened a studio on Calle de la Cruz. To this day, capes here are measured and sewn one by one, with Marcos Sese\u00f1a <\/strong>at the helm of the brand.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

Many leading names in 20th-century Spanish literature, from Valle-Incl\u00e1n to Pio Baroja, were faithful fans of the cape. In 1955, the bullfighter Luis Miguel Domingu\u00edn gave Pablo Picasso<\/strong> an embroidered Sese\u00f1a cape as a gift, and it was this very cape he was buried in. Luis Bu\u00f1uel, Ernest Hemingway, Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastronianni, Bruce Springsteen, and Catherine Deneuve have also donned capes by the brand. To this list of famous names, we can add skier Francisco Fern\u00e1ndez Ochoa, who collected his gold medal at the Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics with a Sese\u00f1a cape draped over his shoulders, and Camilo Jos\u00e9 Cela, who followed suit when he claimed the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

Today at Casa Sese\u00f1a, customers can buy their very own 1901<\/strong>, the model named after year the brand was established. With an original design from the Spanish Golden Age that has barely been altered over the years, this is a timeless piece that will never go out of fashion. But, the question is, how does one wear a cape? According to the experts, \u201cit should be worn freely and effortlessly, draped over the shoulders. Despite it not clinging to the body, it is warmer than a coat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

At Sese\u00f1a, traditional artisan methods prevail; the fabric is handled, measured, cut and sewn exactly the same way it was a hundred years ago. \u201cWe use merino wool <\/strong>to make our capes. The mineral water found in the Sierra de B\u00e9jar (Salamanca) lends the wool unique characteristics, resulting in a dense yet lightweight fabric that retains heat,\u201d the staff tell us.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yet times do change, and at this century-old store you\u2019ll find much more than classic pieces. The arrival of Marcos Sese\u00f1a brought a change of image. His fresh ideas target all types of public, young and old, men and women. His innovation can be seen in the brand\u2019s collaboration with the firm Peseta<\/strong><\/a>, which has led to the designing of black and mustard-coloured capes with patterned inner linings.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:

Photo: \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro.<\/p><\/div>\n

This combination of light and colour can also be found in the uniforms worn by the doormen at the Galer\u00eda Canalejas Food Hall<\/strong><\/a>, one of this year\u2019s successes on the gastronomy scene. These capes were designed in deep navy blue and with mustard velvet detailing. What\u2019s more, the garments also feature gold-threaded embroidery and buttons designed exclusively to recreate the details of the stunning art deco iron railings at the entrance to the gallery on Calle Alcal\u00e1. Sese\u00f1a truly is a timeless icon of Madrid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No winter will ever be as cold with a Casa Sese\u00f1a cape draped over our shoulders. To this day, this Madrid-based century-old tailor continues to handcraft these exquisite garments worn by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Luis Bu\u00f1uel and Bruce Springsteen. This is a story we\u2019ll be telling for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[267,257],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2405,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions\/2405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}