Antonio Banderas, Fashion Designer & Former Zorro, Wants Capes for Men to Make a Comeback

Antonio Banderas in a suit he made. Photo: Courtesy 

Antonio Banderas didn’t spend his summer on the beach in Ibiza or partying on yachts with his fellow actors. Instead, he was toiling away at school. But the 55-year-old wasn’t taking any old continuing education class, instead he was learning fashion at the prestigious Central St Martins. Now, he’s using the tricks he studied and is applying them to the trade as he is teaming up with Selected, a Spanish retailer, to create two menswear collections.

The first of the lines, set to launch in the fall of 2016, will include coats, blazers, jeans, T-shirts, and scarves. “Selected Homme offers the perfect match between casual cool and tailored stylishness. So if I feel like wearing a pair of jeans or need a suit for a party, Selected Homme covers all my needs,” the actor said in a statement.

He also opened up to the school’s 1Granary magazine about his experience. “I got to a point where I’ve done 92 movies — I am not going to stop — I’m going to continue doing movies and producing, and I want to direct more — but there were other things in my life that I was interested in,“ he said.

Banderas, who created a fragrance line with Puig, was inspired by that work and wanted to take it one step further. "Last year my personal life took a turn and I decided to take some steps ahead,” he said. “As something that had been cooking in my brain for a while, I decided to put a company together called Antonio Banderas Designs, which encompasses the perfumes that have been there for 19 years, but I also jumped into the world of glasses.”

While the first iteration of his venture will include more basic products, h’s gunning for the cape to make a comeback. Capes in the winter, in places like this… I think they have incredible possibilities. They’re very comfortable,“ he said. "And it is in a way so logical, coming from Zorro!”

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