User:Supahfly/Massimo Osti

Massimo Osti’s career in the fashion industry began in the early 1970s. As a graphic designer in the advertising business, he designed a T-shirt collection featuring placed prints which used techniques like four-color process and silkscreen which, at the time, were used for printing on paper. Following the success of this first T-shirt collection, he accepted the offer to design a complete men’s collection and become a partner in the company that Osti himself would name Chester Perry (it later became C.P. Company), after the name of the company where Bristow, the famous British comic-strip character published in the Linus magazine in Italy, worked.

During those years, Osti laid the foundations for a creative philosophy based entirely on experimentation. The first innovation he would be responsible for in the clothing industry was garment dying, a process which would completely revolutionize the field. Because the various materials which make up any given finished garment react differently to the same dye bath, he discovered that garment dying creates interesting tone-on-tone effects. In 1981, a new brand, Boneville, was launched alongside the existing CP Company and CP Company Baby collections.

Ongoing research into finishing techniques and materials gave rise to yet another line in 1982: Stone Island. Its first collection was made entirely from a revolutionary new fabric that took inspiration from the tarps used on trucks. The “used” look of this highly resistant, two-tone, reversible fabric was obtained through stone-washing. This new collection was so successful that it sold out after only 10 days in stores.

In 1984, Osti relinquished his shares of CP Company to GFT but stayed on as president. He and his team devoted themselves entirely to product developing and communication strategies for the company. In 1985, he became editor of CP Magazine, an extra-large format catalog/magazine sold at newspaper stands that featured photographs of every garment in the CP Company collections, thereby starting a trend that would later be followed by many others in the industry. A circulation of 40 000 copies for each collection was proof that this unusual advertising tool was indeed effective.

In 1987, his drive for experimentation and the synergy he had created with major textile mills in Italy spawned the patented materials Rubber Flax and Rubber Wool. The rubber coating gave linen and wool a new look and feel and, in addition, made them more resistant and waterproof. That year also marked the first time he experimented with brushed combed wool. Though unprecedented at the time, today all mills use this procedure for processing woolen textiles.

The birth of the famous Ice Jacket also took place in 1987. Osti, in collaboration with ITS, employed state-of-the-art technological research to create this new fabric whose chameleon-like properties allow it to change color with temperature variations. That same year, his constant commitment to experimentation earned Massimo Osti an invitation to represent the Italian clothing industry at an event commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin’s founding, the 150th anniversary of textile manufacturing and his own 15th year in the business. For the occasion, an exhibit was held inside the Reichstag building in Berlin.

In 1988, through their sponsorship of the Mille Miglia race, Massimo Osti’s designs developed a new means of communication with the public. The company also showed its support of the Rainforest Foundation, the foundation spearheaded by Sting and Raoni, chief of the Kayapo tribe in Amazonia, whose purpose was to raise worldwide awareness of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. 1991 marked not only the opening of a CP store in New York’s historical Flatiron Building, but also the launch of yet another iconic garment within the Stone Island line; Reflective Jacket was made using an innovative material which was the fruit of technological research conducted in Japan. This material combined waterproof fabric with a very thin layer of glass microspheres which reflected even the weakest light sources with astonishing effectiveness.

In 1993, a partnership with Allegri gave rise to Left Hand. This new brand was characterized by another exclusive material, a non-woven fabric made from pressed polyester and nylon fibers which, like felt, could be used with raw edge stitching. The following year, Osti founded Massimo Osti Production, a company that would reap the benefits of the experience and successes accrued from 20 years’ worth of formal and technical innovations. In 1995, the ST 95 line was launched and in 1996, Osti began a collaboration with Superga which consisted in designing a collection of image-defining garments.

Just two years later, in 1998, a new company was founded to produce and distribute the OM Project brand, which was the fruit of a collaboration with the Frattini Group. This new line of clothing would also be characterized by the use of innovative fabrics: Electric-j, a highly resistant material made of polyester and copper fibers; Cool Cotton, whose natural look is derived from its cotton component while its other component, Coolmax, is a hollow fiber that absorbs bodily moisture and wicks it outwards; Mag Defender, a canvas made of polyester and carbon fibers whose highly resistant weave shields its wearer from magnetic fields; Steel, this “urban armor” features a nylon canvas which is woven with twisted cotton and stainless steel, making it highly resistant to cuts and tears.

In 1999, Massimo Osti began a collaboration with Dockers Europe to design a new line of technical pants called Equipment for Legs. Of the technical materials used in this collection, a special blend of Kevlar stood out in particular; its increased softness and functionality made it appropriate to its application in garment production. Among Osti’s last projects was the ICD line. Created in 2000 thanks to a collaboration with Levi’s, it offered a vast array of high performance technical outerwear. This collection was then supplemented by the ICD+ line which, thanks to an agreement with Philips, featured outwear garments which came equipped with a cell phone, mp3 reader and accompanying headphones and microphone which were all wired to the garment itself.

His legacy of thirty years’ worth of intense productivity lives on today through the Massimo Osti Archive, a textile archive which includes 5.000 garments and over 50.000 fabric samples from approximately 300 textile mills and garment finishing companies from around the world.

Collections designed by Massimo Osti
Chester Perry (1971–1977)

C.P. Baby (1978–1993)

C.P. Company (1978–1994)

Boneville (1981–1993)

Stone Island (1982–1995)

C.P. Collection (1987–1991)

Left Hand (1993–1999)

Valdemarca (1994–1995)

Production (1995–1998)

St 95 (1996–1998)

Superga (1997–1998)

'''Equip. For Legs''' (1999–2000)

Om Project (1999 - 1999)

Icd/Icd+ ( 2000 - 2000)

Mo Double Use ( 2003–2005)

Alterego ( 2004–2005)

Textile innovations by Massimo Osti
Four-process printing on fabric, 1970: That year, a Bologna-based company commissioned Massimo Osti to design printed T-shirts, something he had never done before. At the age of 25, he was in close contact with the social and artistic movements of the time and was profoundly aware of the changes taking place in society. At the time of his first forays into the world of fashion, Osti’s background in advertising led him to use his graphics know-how as a starting point for tackling his first challenges: “I used processes commonly used for printing on paper to get the finished result, techniques like silkscreen, placed prints, four-process printing, photocopy, etc. It was the first time anything like that had been done before in Italy. I remember that I had to silkscreen the first T-shirts myself before convincing the technician to do them.”

Garment dying, 1979: “I discovered that two different materials absorbed and reacted differently to the dye when dyed simultaneously, thereby creating interesting ‘tone-on-tone’ effects.” This is the basis of garment dying, a process that completely revolutionized the entire industry at the time, both because of the unusual look it produced and because of the significant decrease in costs it represented.

Brushed Wool, 1987: Osti took this special process, which was originally used on cotton, and experimented with it on wool until he refined the procedure through research and adapted it specifically to this noble fiber.

Rubber Flax and Rubber Wool, 1987: both these materials, which would become very popular in the textile industry, were created by Osti. They took noble and traditional fabrics like linen and wool and granted them a new look and texture, allowing them to drape and fall differently. The special rubber coating not only heightens their natural characteristics, it also grants increased functionality, such as resistance to water, and allows them to remain adaptable to patterns.

Ice Jacket, 1991: This revolutionary material changes color with temperature variations thanks to its special chemical composition. “Ice Jacket” is also highly waterproof and windproof.

Micro, 1992: this fabric, which first appeared in the LEFT HAND collection, is made from pressed microfiber and nylon fibers using a traditional technique which was originally used to make paper. This process grants the fabric an unmistakable “deerskin” hand and excellent breathability.

Termojoint, 1993: this revolutionary material was also used in the LEFT HAND collection. Its main characteristics are total resistance to water and wear and up to 80% protection from nuclear radiation.

Tecnowool, 1995: used for the first time in the F/W 1996 collection by “Massimo Osti Production,” this combination of wool and nylon jersey is wear-resistant and preserves the breathability, naturalness and durability of wool.

External sources

 * Massimo Osti Studio official website
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