Photography and words by Jake Hartwell
Taken from Issue 04 of The Basement. Get your copy here.
I have two Italian Maestros and both their names begin with the letter M: Mario Merola and Massimo Osti.
Massimo is responsible for the vast chunk of everything I still love about fashion today. This sentiment is shared by many, whether they know the history of the brands he’s helmed or not. To tell the whole story of Massimo’s life and contribution to fashion would be impossible within the confines of a single magazine feature, but what I can safely say is that Massimo’s hands and ideas have and will continue to inspire the industry and culture forever.
The inventor of sportswear, Massimo amassed a collection of over 20,000 military pieces and interpolated their design details and unmatched functionality into garments that remain eternally relevant and maintain a near-unreachable bar for designers today. From household names (if you’re in the right households) including C.P Company, Boneville, and Stone Island to if-you-know-you-know outfits such as Left Hand, Massimo Osti Production, and ST 95, Massimo’s brainchildren have been reared like a family: The Osti Dynasty.
Of course, the storied Massimo Osti Archive has been the subject of much conversation over the past few years. A sort of enigmatic Disneyland filled with the items I trawl eBay daily to find. So when a chance invite appeared, I got on that flight.
Set in an old stables in the heart of Bologna, the Massimo Osti Archive is meticulously curated and preserved, the pieces presented mapping out a timeline of sportswear through the decades. Rows and rows of jackets, t-shirts, trousers – some prototypes, some archived from famed drops. Dotted in between are personal pieces of Massimo’s that you could only dream of seeing let alone getting to feel. Sitting at over 5000 pieces – a mixture of products, accessories, fabric samples and lab dips, as well as a small chunk of Massimo’s military collection, the shelves are further filled with books, magazines, adverts and even personal notebooks filled with Massimo’s thoughts and drawings.
As we toured the sections, the stories told were varied and epic. At times, I’ll be honest, I’d spot an early piece and have to take my opportunity to examine it more closely, losing the thread of the histories to focus on the threads in front of me. From the beginnings of graphics on t-shirts to printing innovative textures onto products to engineering entirely new textiles such as the iconic nylon wool and heat-reactive fabrics, experiencing the timeline and moments of sheer brilliance that paved the Massimo path was truly mind-blowing. Without one brand or era you would not have another, so although some brands catered to different styles and consumers, the same ideas were present throughout – everything designed for its chosen purpose.
Fast forward to today and we are in the era of Massimo Osti Studio: a brand established by Lorenzo Osti in his late father’s honour that picks up where Massimo left off. The team consists of talent old and new, joining forces to continue the legacy of innovation and mastery. An experience I’ll never forget, there is no better description for Massimo than the designer’s designer. I believe it was Errolson Hugh who said you’d spend time designing something only to find that Massimo Osti had done it decades ago. His investment in research and development, treatment and dyeing, fabric choice and an engineering-led design ethos, will forever set Massimo apart. The polar opposite of fast fashion, Massimo’s unmatched passion and dedication to precision and quality is the reason why some of us have jackets in our wardrobe that are over 30 years old and still function as intended. As I sat down with Lorenzo Osti to discuss his father’s legacy, it became clear that Errolson had it bang on.
Massimo was way ahead of the curve when it came to developing new materials, which development was he the most proud of?
I think the two he loved the most are:
- the Rubberwool: the first success in giving technical performance to a natural fabric, extensively used in C.P. Company
- the ice fabric: even though it was not his personal invention (it was from a Japanese mill, Massimo was the first to pick it up) it was so impressive that anybody, including my dad, loved to play with it.
What were some of Massimo’s key ethos not just in design but also in life? What made him tick?
Honesty and integrity above anything else. Both in life and work. As he wrote in a note: “we must tell what we do and we must do what we tell.”
An iconic moment in fashion was Massimo’s utilisation of the badge on Stone Island Garments which still remains till today, what inspired your father to do this?
Military insignia.
Did your father have a favourite car?
Yes, different cars for different stages of his life. He loved Citroen DS in the ’70 and Jaguar in the ’80s and ’90s. He had two Daimler Double-Six. But I’m sure his favourite always remained the banana yellow Porsche 356 he had for more than 20 years
Which labels, apart from your own houses, do you think are the innovators of today in practical fashion?
I’m observing Volleback, they are pushing hard on fabric innovation and I find their angle interesting as it is clearly coming from outside the fashion industry
We are living in an entirely new world when it comes to fashion/streetwear, what is your opinion on today’s “scene”?
I’m not much into trends but I see clearly the fading out of a compulsive buying driven by brand “hype” in favour of a more conscious shopping ideology which focuses on other brand values such as quality or cultural relevance.
What was the pivotal moment that you decided to make the career change into working around C.P. and Massimo Osti Studio?
Actually, it happened by chance. I didn’t follow in my dad’s footsteps and I only got close to this industry once he passed away, when we set-up his Archive and wrote the book, Ideas from Massimo Osti. Then I wasn’t involved in the business, but focused on an educational angle. By chance, I came to know that C.P. Company was for sale and I had the chance to propose the deal to a Chinese client I was working with and we became partners. That is how my career change happened, and then Massimo Osti Studio arrived 7 years later as a natural evolution of what we were doing.
Who are some of the designers that stand out to you over the years?
I’m very attached to the designers that worked with a similar approach to Massimo: starting from the bottom, from materials and functional design, such as Paul Harvey, Alessandro Pungetti, Leonardo Fasolo and Errolson Hugh
What are your five best places to visit in Italy for those who want to travel?
It’s hard to be objective… Sardinia, the Cinque Terre (but off season), Val d’Orcia, Castelluccio di Norcia and the Gran Sasso, Trieste.
What is the future of the archive currently?
I’m working to create a foundation that can support new designers to learn Massimo’s working method by leveraging the archive.
Do you plan to continue building the archive?
Not really, but I would love to join forces with China Design Academy which owns the largest archive of Massimo’s garments.
Would you ever create a permanent archive that is open to the public, perhaps for fans or designers to visit?
It’s open to the public now, but to keep it free we have to limit the opening to a few days a month.
What are your thoughts on the resale market of C.P. and Stone Island? There are so few fashion brands that not only maintain value but increase over the years.
You’re right. I’ve been surprised too. I think it has to do with the inner quality of the garments that allow them to last so long, the fact that being designed on principle of functionality, they never lose their reason to be worn.
What is the most important part of your father’s legacy that you want to continue with the brand?
Experimenting. Taking the risk of doing things differently.
How do you find inspiration for the new collections?
I’m not the designer but I can say that we always start from some innovations that come out of our R&D lab. We also reference the archive, where we find the link for what we call the “cultural related chapters” which is something that will be released later this year.
Collaboration seems to be huge in today’s market, do you enjoy the process of collaborating?
Yes, of course. We only select partners we admire and we love to work with! With Massimo Osti Studio, we will take some time before start collaborating.
