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C.P. Company

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C.P. Company is an Italian apparel brand founded in 1971 by designer Massimo Osti.[1] Initially called Chester Perry by the suggestion of his fashion entrepreneur friend Corrado Zannoni, its name was changed in 1978 following a lawsuit by Chester Barrie and Fred Perry, for the use of their first name and surname.[2]

C.P. Company
Founded1971
FounderMassimo Osti
Websitewww.cpcompany.com

C.P. Company clothing design often conducts research and design into military uniforms and work suits.[3] It became known for its functional, military-inspired outerwear and the use of innovative fabrics, processing techniques and design. Its "Mille Miglia jacket" (also known as "Goggle jacket", 1988), features two clear lenses on the hood — the "goggle" — and one on the wrist, for the wristwatch.[4][5] Since 1975 C.P. Company has produced over 40,000 garments.[3] Today, the brand has generated a large following within Dutch and English 'football hooligan' subculture. C.P. Company continues to deliver modern field jackets, soft shell goggle jackets, lens sleeve sweatshirts, and more.[6]

Ownership edit

In 1984, Osti sold his company shares to GFT (Gruppo Finanziario Tessile), but stayed on as the brand's stylist until 1994.[7] In 1993 the brand was acquired by Carlo Rivetti. Rivetti changed the name of the company from C.P. Company to Sportswear Company. In 2010 it was sold to Enzo Fusco's FGF Industry S.P.A.[8] In 2015, the company's intellectual property was bought by Hong Kong apparel group Tristate Holdings Limited (SEHK: 458).[9]

History edit

C.P. Company was founded in 1971 in Bologna, Italy, by designer Massimo Osti (1944–2005). The brand was originally called Chester Perry but following joint legal action by the British menswear brands Chester Barrie and Fred Perry, the name was changed to C.P. Company in 1978.[10] Initially the company produced t-shirts screen-printed with graphic designs developed by Osti, but by 1973 the brand started to produce other garments including jackets, trousers, and shirts.[11] In 1984 Osti sold the company to GFT (Gruppo Finanziario Tessile) but stayed working with the company as a designer until 1994. In 1993 the company was bought by Carlo Rivetti (b. 1956) and became part of a larger group called Sportswear Company S.p.A.[12] Massimo Osti resigned as creative director in 1994, and Romeo Gigli (b. 1949) was employed as the brand’s creative director, designing menswear, and launching a womenswear line. In 1997, Moreno Ferrari (b. 1952) succeeded Gigli as creative director. In 2001 Alessandro Pungetti was announced as the company's new creative director, where he remained in this role until 2009 when Wallace Faulds (b. 1979) was appointed by Carlo Rivetti as the new head of design.[13] C.P. Company was sold by Rivetti to FGF Industry SpA in 2010.[14] Alessandro Pungetti was reappointed as joint creative director alongside Paul Harvey in 2012.[15] In 2015 FGF Industry SpA sold the company to Tristate Holdings Limited.[16]  In 2019, Lorenzo Osti, the son of Massimo Osti, was appointed president of C.P. Company.[17] The brand opened a flagship store in Milan in 2019, followed by new retail locations in Amsterdam in September 2020, Riccione in June 2021, and London in 2022.[18]

Garment Dyeing and textile innovation edit

An important element of C.P. Company's design aesthetic is the use of complex dye processes to generate a range of finishes to garments across their product line. In 1974 C.P. Company started developing whole garment dyeing (Tinto in capo) as a technique of removing the stiffness from new fabrics and giving a worn appearance to final garments including T-shirts, trousers, jackets, and knitwear.[19] C.P. Company established a technologically advanced dyeing laboratory in Ravarino, Italy to develop processes for whole garment dyeing, as there were no existing industrial processes for this treatment at the time. This resulted in the development of a number of new techniques, which were subsequently adopted by other fashion brands.[20][21] The brand also developed new methods for dyeing garments that are constructed from different fibres, such as cotton and nylon, by applying multiple dyes in a single process, which results in an extensive range of finishes including a dual-colour appearance.[22] This method enabled the company to purchase large quantities of a single raw material at a lower price, which could then be used over multiple seasons while appearing completely different due to the dyeing processes used.[23] In addition to garment dyeing (Tinto in capo) C.P. Company were instrumental in the development of several other fabrics and treatments including 50 Fili, Velvet Wool, Rubber Wool and Rubber Flax.[24] More recently the brand has utilised a variety of other cutting-edge materials including Dynafil TS-70, Dyneema, Chrome, Taylon L, NyBer, P.Ri.S.M, Polartec Alpha, Micro-M, and M.T.t.n.[25]

Garment-based research edit

C. P. Company’s design process was initially informed by Osti’s substantial garment archive, which was used to research archetypal military, industrial, or utilitarian garments and reinterpret details of their design to inform new design outcomes. By 1996 the archive contained over 35,000 garments.[26] This approach to design was exemplified by the launch in 1991 of the Continuative Garments range from C.P. Company, which saw variations of the same garments being reissued each season, with the use of innovative fabrication and dyeing techniques used to transform these garments.[27]  It enabled the brand to perfect and refine a series of core garments, including the Mille Miglia jacket which was based on the Swiss Alpenflage M70 military jacket and features multiple pockets.[28] The Mille Miglia jacket also featured two plastic lenses in the hood which were inspired by research that Osti undertook on protective hoods and anti-gas masks produced during the Second World War.[29] The first Mille Miglia jackets were produced by C.P. Company in 1988 and were initially given away to the organisers and competitors of the Mille Miglia (1000 Miles) endurance race, which the brand sponsored in 1998 and 1989.[30] In 2009, the company invited designer Aitor Throup to design the 20th anniversary version of the Mille Miglia jacket, which was subsequently shortlisted by The Design Museum, London for the Designs of the Year Award 2010.[31]

Urban Protection range edit

Following his appointment at creative director Moreno Ferrari developed the Urban Protection range which was launched in 1997 and was produced each season until 2001.[32] It built on the brand’s approach to continuative garments, but while these had previously been constructed in predominantly natural fibres such as linen, cotton, leather, and wool, the Urban Protection range used an industrial nylon, Dynafil TS-70, in nearly all of the collection’s outerwear.[33] In addition, several garments in the range featured built-in technology, including torches, headphones, personal alarms, and pollution detectors, and were given evocative names such as Metropolis, Atlas, Life, LED, R.E.M., Move, and Rest.[34] Ferrari's approach to the Urban Protection range has been widely interpreted as being influenced by the concept of the non-place, which was first explored by Marc Auge in his 1995 book Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity.[35] Curator Andrew Bolton noted that the garments functionality aligned with the transitional spaces of the airport, highway, and subway.[36] While Ferrari described these non-places as, ‘…anonymous spaces which annul our soul; a soul which we all pretend to forget about, but which can suddenly re-emerge to remind us who we are and what we really need.’ [37] Ferrari later designed the Transformables range for Spring Summer 2000 that included several inflatable or transforming garments constructed from blue-tinted transparent polyurethane, reinforced by a carbon coating.[38] The garments included a coat that turned into a mattress, a jacket that inflated into a chair, and a coat that turned into a kite.[39] In 2006, the Transformables Parka/Air Mattress was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is now held in their permanent collection.[40][41] The Urban Protection range was relaunched in 2020, with a reworking of the Metropolis jacket in Dyneema, which is marketed as the world’s strongest fibre[42][43]

Collaborations edit

As part of the celebrations around the brand’s 50th anniversary in 2021, C.P. Company produced a series of collaborations with several other brands, including Patta, adidas Spezial, Barbour, Clarks Originals, and Emporio Armani.[44][45][46][47][48] In 2023 a collaborative capsule collection with British streetwear brand Palace was produced, based on reinterpretations of classic garments from C.P. Company’s own archive.[49] The brand has also collaborated with a number of musicians, including Kano, Sergio Pizzorno of Kasabian, Liam Gallagher, and the band Gorillaz, to create capsule collections.[50][51][52][53] While notable musicians who have worn the brand include Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Bez from the Happy Mondays, and Damon Albarn who wore the Aitor Throup-designed Mille Miglia on the cover of his 2014 album Everyday Robots.[54][55][56]

Subcultural influence edit

The casual subculture that emerged during the late 1970s on the football terraces in the United Kingdom was notable for its adoption Italian brands that were difficult to find in the United Kingdom at the time. By the mid-1980s, C.P. Company began to be worn by casuals in the United Kingdom, along with other Italian brands such as Stone Island, Fila, Tacchini, Emporio Armani, Ellesse, Benetton, and Fiorucci.[57][58] Particular jackets, such as the Mille Miglia google jacket and later the Metropolis, became iconic within the casual subculture due to C.P. Company's emphasis on distinctive outerwear.[59] The integrated goggles in the Mille Miglia jacket also made it easy for wearers to conceal their identity from CCTV cameras and police surveillance officers.[60] By the late 1990s and early 2000s the brands Mille Miglia jacket which had been issued each season as part of the company’s Continuative Garments range had come to symbolise the casual subculture, with illustrations of football casuals wearing the jacket appearing on numerous t-shirts manufactured by other brands, such as 80s Casuals and Casual Connoisseurs, highlighting the jacket's iconic status within the subculture. The jacket was also featured on the cover of Phil Thornton’s 2003 book Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion: The Story of a Terrace Cult.[61] In 2022, The Art of the Terraces exhibition at the Walker Gallery, Liverpool which examined the connection between casual culture and art, featured a number of artworks featuring the jacket by artists including as Peter O'Toole, Jens Wagner, Jamie Pike, and Paul Curtis.[62][63] Between 1985 and 1993 C.P. Company published its own biannual magazine in Italian, English, and Japanese, which features the new seasons collections, with each issue selling 50,000 copies.[64] In 2022, C.P. Company introduced a new magazine called Arcipelago which is published biannually.[65]

References edit

  1. ^ "C.P. Company". FGF Industry S.P.A. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Osti, Massimo". siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Social". Slam Jam Socialism. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
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  5. ^ "Le lenti sul cappuccio e l'oblò per l'orologio: è il "vintage" tecnico". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  6. ^ "CP Company - Jackets & More | EQVVS". www.eqvvs.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  7. ^ "C.P. Company 'Archivio' Collection: Autumn – Winter 1994". www.osti-archive.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  8. ^ "C.P. Company". FGF Industry S.P.A. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Tristate (00458) buys C.P. Company intellectual property". Quamnet.com. 2015-11-12. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  10. ^ Lodovico Pignatti Moreno, ed., C.P. Company 971-021. An Informal History of Italian Sportswear (Tristate International SA and IDEA Books, 2021).
  11. ^ Daniela Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 01 edition (Bologna, Italy: Damiani, 2012), 26.
  12. ^ Byoungho Jin and Elena Cedrola, Product Innovation in the Global Fashion Industry (Springer, 2017), 46.
  13. ^ Emilie Marsh, ‘C.P. Company Names New Designer’, Women’s Wear Daily, 16 April 2009, sec. 1.
  14. ^ Hong Kong-Listed Tristate Holdings Buys Italian C.P. Company’, Italian Collection, 8 December 2015, http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=ITACOL0020151208ebc8000b8&cat=a&ep=ASE.
  15. ^ "Stories: Interview: C.P.'s Alessandro Pungetti and Paul Harvey". the-spin-off.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  16. ^ ‘Hong Kong-Listed Tristate Holdings Buys Italian C.P. Company’.
  17. ^ "Italian sportswear label CP Company appoints Lorenzo Osti as president". FashionNetwork.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  18. ^ Carrera, Martino (2019-06-14). "C.P. Company Goes Back to the Future". WWD. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  19. ^ Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 26.
  20. ^ Jin and Cedrola, Product Innovation in the Global Fashion Industry, 44.
  21. ^ Thomaï Serdari, Rethinking Luxury Fashion: The Role of Cultural Intelligence in Creative Strategy (Springer Nature, 2020), 34.
  22. ^ Fouad Sabry, E-Textiles: Monitor Personal Health and Detect Early Warning Disease Signs (One Billion Knowledgeable, 2022).
  23. ^ Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 16.
  24. ^ Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 150
  25. ^ "The Complete Guide to C.P. Company: History, Sizing & Fit". www.farfetch.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  26. ^ "Timeline". MASSIMO OSTI ARCHIVE. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  27. ^ ‘Timeline’.
  28. ^ "Post Page". aligeorgehinkins.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  29. ^ Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 220.
  30. ^ "How Motorsport's Most Iconic Race Created the Stylish Mille Miglia Goggle Jacket". Oracle Time. 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  31. ^ "Design Museum announce shortlist for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year". Dezeen. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  32. ^ Cristina Morozzi, Carlo Rivetti: C.P. Company - Stone Island (Milano: Automobilia, 2001), 79.
  33. ^ ‘Misc.Sell.Aneous’, Orienteer Mapazine, accessed 23 March 2023, https://www.orienteermapazine.com/urban.
  34. ^ Andrew Bolton, The Supermodern Wardrobe, 1st edition (London: V & A Publications, 2002), 66.
  35. ^ Marc Auge, Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, trans. John Howe (London; New York: Verso Books, 1995).
  36. ^ Bolton, The Supermodern Wardrobe.
  37. ^ Morozzi, Carlo Rivetti.
  38. ^ Quinn, Bradley (2003). The fashion of architecture. Internet Archive. New York : Berg. ISBN 978-1-85973-752-1.
  39. ^ Morozzi, Carlo Rivetti, 81.
  40. ^ Antonelli, Paola (2005). Safe : design takes on risk. Internet Archive. New York : Museum of Modern Art ; London : Thames & Hudson [distributor]. ISBN 978-0-87070-580-9.
  41. ^ "Moreno Ferrari | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  42. ^ Davey, Jacob. "London Poet James Massiah Unveils C.P Company's Newly-Remastered Metropolis Dyneema Jacket". Complex. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  43. ^ "Home | Dyneema". www.dyneema.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  44. ^ "Patta and C.P. Company Tap Into Their Musical Heritage". Hypebeast. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  45. ^ "The C.P. Company x adidas Spezial collaboration is a tale of two…". The Face. 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  46. ^ "Autumn showers? Barbour and CP Company have got you covered". British GQ. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  47. ^ "C.P. Company and Clarks Originals Celebrate The Point Where Nature Meets City". Hypebeast. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  48. ^ "Italian excellence: Emporio Armani and C.P. Company announce collaboration". wallpaper.com. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  49. ^ Salibian, Sandra (2022-12-19). "A Look Into Palace's New Collab With C.P. Company". WWD. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  50. ^ Sam Cole, ‘FLANNELS Strikes Gold With C.P. Company & Kano’, Highsnobiety, 22 Mar
  51. ^ "C.P. Company Collaborates With Sergio Pizzorno on New Capsule". Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  52. ^ "Liam Gallagher Launches C.P. Company, Snow Peak and Barbour Collaborations". Hypebeast. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  53. ^ "Gorillaz Team up With C.P. Company on New Merch Capsule". Hypebeast. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  54. ^ "Fifty years on, C.P. Company is still the pioneer of Italian sportswear". British GQ. 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  55. ^ Dazed (2021-10-06). "CP Company is taking over a sleepy Lancashire town". Dazed. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  56. ^ Gosling, Emily (2014-01-29). "Art director Aitor Throup on designing for Damon Albarn". Design Week. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  57. ^ Stanley Smith, Dressers: Pt. 1 (Greymatters Media, 2012), 161.
  58. ^ William Routledge, Northern Monkeys: Dressing and Messing at the Match and More, As Told by the Lads Who Were There, Second updated edition. (Marple, Cheshire: ThinkMore, 2013), 299.
  59. ^ Routledge, 355.
  60. ^ William Routledge, Oh Yes, Oh Yes, We Are the PPS - Full-on True Stories of Preston North End’s Most Fanatical Followers (Kings Road Publishing, 2010), 103.
  61. ^ Phil Thornton, Casuals : Football, Fighting and Fashion : The Story of a Terrace Cult (Lytham: Lytham : Milo Books, 2003).
  62. ^ Ryder, Elliott (2022-10-29). "Football, Adidas and risking 'lives' for the latest trainers". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  63. ^ Jonze, Tim (2022-11-25). "And Van Gogh scores! What happens when art, football and fashion collide". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  64. ^ Facchinato, Ideas from Massimo Osti, 361.
  65. ^ "C.P. Company presents a new magazine called "Arcipelago"". nss magazine. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
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