In the splendid Belgrano R mansion where the headquarters of its homonymous brand operates, Adriana Costantini receives with a pure smile. With a black blazer, white top and dress pants, she has the same bearing as in her modeling days, back in 1973, when she was discovered by Siete Días magazine on a beach in Mar del Plata. But history was not always easy.
When the 2001 crisis led his company to bankruptcy and to lose its previous flagship location a few blocks from the current one, he saw the “for rent” sign above this French house on Echeverría and Conesa and did not hesitate to go knock on the door. “I told the woman who helped me that I didn’t have anything to give her, but that I wanted to rent it. And here I am,” he says. What she experienced from then on was a reinvention, both of herself and of the brand. Because not only did she have to learn to grow at a different pace, but in the middle she also became the widow of her children’s father, Néstor Ferrari. They were not easy years, and that is why he values even more the joy with which he stands today.
News: At what stage do I find it?
Adriana Costantini: In a mature woman stage. Trying to make the decision whether to continue working as much or less, never not to continue… I am 73 years old and in 2025 it will be 40 years since I have my brand. And I am in a very calm stage, because this works. At the same time, my two sons, Guido and Bruno, are grown and I am no longer responsible for them, I just enjoy them, as well as my five grandchildren. Now, for example, I go all summer to Bariloche, where they live. At the same time, I am trying to trust the country and pray that they remember SMEs. This is a medium-sized SME, here we all do almost everything.
News: What exactly is your role?
Costantini: I have a partner, Elio De Angeli, who is the creative director of the brand and designer. But the design is what I like the most, so I don’t completely separate myself from it. I discuss the collections. A little bit about the philosophical part, a little bit I think about what women want in their wardrobe, what I feel about trends. And then I fly over everything.
News: And what is the woman Adriana Costantini like?
Costantini: Active, modern, updated. I feel ageless, I feel that anyone who likes my style can consume it. In fact, there are women my age who come with their daughters and granddaughters. Our brand is quite comprehensive, especially in molding and sizes. We are the kings of the size law since before it existed.
News: Was that a struggle that always mattered to you?
Costantini: From the beginning. At 35 years old, I thought I wanted to sell all the women in my country, from north to south and from east to west. Because I started as a wholesaler and I started internally. There I found all the bodies, heights, volumes and colors. So the brand was born with diversity. We make very extensive collections, thinking of all women, but we also have many sizes. Ready-to-wear ranges from 0 to 5, jeans range from 4 to 18. Our strength is the variety of sizes and fits.
News: When you open your closet, what do you feel it’s made of?
Costantini: How I am today: a blazer, a white top, these fabrics that don’t wrinkle. If I have a cocktail later, I’m fine. Before I always came to work like this, now I come more relaxed, more comfortable. Modal outfits with silk, slippers. I relieved myself a lot of the pressure of image, and so I feel that I am still good, presentable.
News: Do you feel like an entrepreneur or businesswoman?
Costantini: I feel like an entrepreneurial businesswoman. My gene is entrepreneurial and I still feel it. I had to become a businesswoman, and it’s not so comfortable for me. That’s why I have a commercial manager, an accountant, and a great work team. Because you can’t work alone, there are 50 of us. We are in three shopping malls and at this moment the structure is large, but we will resist.
News: What would you ask the government?
Costantini: Lower our tax burden. Of each garment, 45% are taxes. We are absolutely unproductive, because we are very expensive. And we are pure national industry. I spent 90 without importing and I intend for the same thing to happen to me now, until I also have the possibility of exporting. Because if not, it’s not worth it…
News: Are you afraid of the opening of imports that is beginning?
Costantini: Not at the moment. I know how to flow and how to get through this moment, but I want my clothes at a good price. I want to do things well, with the fabric I want, and I want to continue giving work to people here. The fashion industry provides a lot of jobs. Although I don’t have my own workshop at the moment, I work with some who have trained with the brand. I love the national industry and I ask the government to look at us a little, to take care of it, because it is our turn. We work with little consumption, very tight and with limited production, because why are you going to make more, if you don’t sell it.
News: Was the fall-winter season difficult?
Costantini: Yes, but it ended up better than I expected. And summer is being better too. I also did winter wholesale pre-sales for multi-brands and franchises and I felt that, at least, there was more enthusiasm. Now we need the government to look at us. Let’s hope it’s our turn and to be competitive, to be able to have the beautiful clothes we make at better, more accessible prices.
News: Was it difficult for you to put your name on the brand or was it a natural decision?
Costantini: I was a model, and when I saw that the boys were in primary school and I was already tired, I felt that clothes were calling me. So the name made me again. It had its weight, and people supported me.
News: How did you live the experience of 2001?
Costantini: I went bankrupt. And it changed a lot since then, it was like a second life. We were very big, with a huge amount of clothing, production, a three-story building with 450 m2, plotted vans, present in all the shopping malls… And it changed, because it got smaller. It became real, we ran out of money, we licensed, we looked for allies and then we started to grow, but on a different basis, not on quicksand. That growth was a tremendous enjoyment. Of course, I suffered. This place is not mine, it is rented, I was never able to have the properties again. But I never thought about leaving. The other Adriana, the one on TV, is always in me, but this is the one that gives me freedom. I am the widow of a man with three previous children, and I always knew I had to have my own. This is part of it, she’s like my wife daughter!
News: What did you learn about yourself in this process?
Costantini: That I didn’t have to trust so much, that I had to be more involved in everything and not play the designer and the model. But it doesn’t mean being distrustful, because I also learned to delegate, knowing well who. I learned to build teams.
News: Do you want to return to TV after the experience of “The Blondes”?
Costantini: It was a fabulous experience. I learned a lot, I remembered a lot, because I worked on “Café con Canela”, where I did wardrobe advice for Canela and talked about fashion, something similar to what I did later on “Las Blondes”. So I remembered and relearned. Marcela Tinayre knows how to make TV, she knows a lot. It’s very demanding too, but I loved doing it. He produced the fashion part for me, he told me about the parades outside, he kept my head very awake. They ask me if I would come back, and I say yes, running.
News: And would you like to do TV again?
Costantini: Yes, but I wouldn’t do a program alone. Not so much responsibility. I have filled the quota. But I could be a panelist, my thing is to be a team. I worked alone for many years and did everything alone, but now I like to share more.
News: What grooming habits did you carry over from your time as a model?
Costantini: I do little, but I am verbose. I care a lot about my hair and I make sure it doesn’t look straw-like or show the roots, I take care of my skin, although I don’t like pricks or cuts. I do treatments such as mesolifting, radiofrequency, gentle treatments. And this year I started training, because I felt like I was lacking a little strength.
News: And when you are not working, what are your greatest pleasures?
Costantini: Being with my family, that’s why I go to Bariloche a lot. And there I really like plants, here I don’t care because I live in an apartment and my balcony is small. I don’t have hobbies, and it’s something I considered this year. I always worked so hard… But I really want to paint, and I want to start with ceramics.
News: What do you ask for in 2025?
Costantini: That we have support at work, fashion in general needs it. We need to be valued, the trades, the embroiderers, the hand finishing are being lost. I also see that, since it is not sold, the quality began to drop, and I would not want that to happen. Personally, I am in very good health, my family is great, my children are entrepreneurs, like me, and since 2004 they have been working with their beer brand, Berlina. Everyone is fine and I have had a partner for eight years again, Rómulo. The truth is that more than asking, I just have to thank you.
