Little Known Labels: Albert Capraro

One of the less commonly seen labels of the early-mid 1970s is Albert Capraro, a little-known designer today who had a big audience after dressing First Lady Betty Ford.  Capraro had gained eight years' experience working at Oscar de la Renta, crafting the boutique collection while honing his skills and readying to strike out on his own.

After a mere six months in business with his own label, Capraro got a call from the White House.  At first he thought it was a joke.  But in reality, Mrs. Ford wanted Capraro to create designs for her using Asian fabrics recently brought home by the President. 

Two days later, Capraro arrived in a government limousine at the steps of the White House.  After that first meeting, he designed five dresses from the imported fabric and thus began a series of appointments exclusively outfitting the First Lady's needs.



Albert Capraro's designs are clean and functional, of superb quality and were usually sold in exclusive boutiques.  The 1970s originals are hard to find because they were a high price range and lower production, so relatively few exist in relation to the mass quantity of other ready-to-wear lines.  If you can find one, consider yourself lucky.  You're dressing as well as a president's wife and with the chic sophistication this label was known for.

Source: The Fashion Makers by Barbra Walz & Bernadine Morris

Little Known Labels: Nat Kaplan

The Nat Kaplan label is quietly one of the priciest labels we've seen in vintage deadstock, with hangtags in the hundreds of dollars per dress. When you apply inflation to those vintage dollars, these are expensive designs, ranging to prices that equal thousands of today's dollars.


The Nat Kaplan look is conservative but occasionally sexy, meant for ladies who lunch and who had large budgets for clothing. Most of the items are either dresses or suits, impeccably elegant and impressively tailored and finished. The items above are pure silk dress and coat sets from the 1960s.

Nat Kaplan's labels are either "Nat Kaplan/ New York" or "Nat Kaplan/ Couture", which were probably two distinct lines from the same New York-based company. The hangtag below has a 1960s price of $250. In vintage clothing shops, today's retail of the same item is usually much less than the original vintage price.


In the late 1960s and 1970s, this company focused increasing on synthetics (as did much of the fashion world), but its prices remained just as high. Often the finishing was more likely done by machine during these years, but sometimes hand-finished details were expertly executed in a 100% polyester garment.

We usually see Nat Kaplan garments mixed into the same deadstock racks as haute labels like Oleg Cassini, Pucci, Estevez, Mollie Parnis, Diane von Furstenberg and similar designers. The look is just as chic, but this label is still little-known among vintage fashion collectors - a prime name to start seeking out.

Find our latest selection of Nat Kaplan originals and start your own haute label collection!