BRAND PROFILE: C.P. COMPANY

Whether you're discovering C.P. Company for the first time or you're a longtime fan eager to learn more, we’ve gathered the most frequently asked questions to help you explore the brand’s roots, uncover its story, and get the full picture of C.P. Company.

C.P.  COMPANY ORIGINS

Who is C.P. Company?

C.P. Company is a luxury Italian sportswear label. Originally founded as Chester Perry brand, C.P. Company immediately found favour thanks to its subtly non-conformist interpretation of functional men’s wardrobe classics. For more than 50 years the brand has continued to pioneer its signature hybridisation of archival military, work and sportswear models, combining them with intensely researched, cutting-edge, Italian fabric innovation.

When was C.P. Company founded?

Founded in 1971, graphic designer Massimo Osti turned Bologna’s creative atmosphere into a ground for innovation. Channeling skills from his advertising career, C.P. Company was born, starting with bold graphic t-shirts that fused comic-style visuals with experimental fabric treatments.

At a time when CMYK printing and silkscreening were virtually unknown in fashion, Osti’s techniques were ahead of their time — his inventive approach to tees earned him the opportunity to expand into full menswear.

By the mid-’70s, Osti moved beyond graphic prints, developing a distinct aesthetic rooted in his love for military surplus and vintage workwear. Fascinated by the stories stitched into used garments, he aimed to capture their worn character in his designs.

Massimo Osti’s fresh perspective gave the brand an insatiable drive to ask “what if?”, diving into the unknown and turning the familiar, the historical, the practical, into something completely reimagined. He approached design with almost forensic precision, drawing on his graphic design roots to rethink how garments look, feel, and function. Research was the engine behind it all. Massimo constantly immersed himself in design, textiles, and history, blending it all to reshape the future of functional fashion in surprising and inventive ways.

Where is C.P. Company from?

C.P. Company was born in Bologna, Northern Italy, a city that continues to anchor the brand’s identity even as its influence has expanded across the globe.

What does CP brand stand for?

C.P. stands for Chester Perry. The brand name — later abbreviated to C.P. Company — was a nod to the factory where Bristow, the comic strip character created by Frank Dickens, worked. Inspired by comics and the visual language of newspapers, Osti applied printing techniques traditionally used on paper to clothing, including screen printing, photocopying, and CMYK four-colour processes.

Osti’s pioneering use of unconventional printing techniques gave the brand a distinct visual identity and opened the door to deeper experimentation, particularly in garment dyeing. The result was a dynamic interplay of tone and texture, as each fabric responded uniquely to the dye, capturing the rugged, worn-in aesthetic that became central to his design philosophy and defined Osti’s vision.

In 1978, the brand transitioned into C.P. Company, ushering in a bold new chapter. With this evolution, Osti embraced more adventurous shapes and a nuanced approach to colour.

Who is the founder of C.P. Company?

C.P. Company was founded by Massimo Osti, the pioneering mind behind the label and widely referred to as the “Godfather of Sportswear” — a trailblazing visionary who shaped the foundations of contemporary performancewear as we know it.

Although no longer the owner of C.P. Company, at the helm is the label’s President Lorenzo Osti, Creative Director Leonardo Fasolo, Lead Designer Paul Harvey, and the tight-knit team of innovators behind the scenes at C.P. Company — all of whom are continuing with the same trailblazing vision established by Massimo Osti in the brand’s formative years.

C.P. COMPANY: DESIGN CODES

Consistently fusing tradition, innovation and performance, C.P. Company draws its design inspiration from the past and the present — “I like to play with forms which don’t belong to the history of the 20-year-olds of today using materials which were unknown to the 20-year-olds of yesteryear.” – Massimo Osti. 

This quote from C.P. Company’s trailblazing founder, Massimo Osti, doesn’t just capture the brand’s modern-day outlook, it reshapes how we view garment design altogether. Coming from graphic design, he broke all the rules and built a whole new one, pushing the brand’s creative direction into bold, unexplored territory.

Is C.P. Company a luxury brand?

C.P. Company has cemented its place as a leading name in Italian luxury sportswear, evolving from cult favourite to cultural symbol across numerous subcultures. Sitting between luxury and technical functionality, its distinct blend of military, workwear, and athletic codes balance the comfort of familiarity with bold creative direction. 

Who wears C.P. Company?

C.P. Company has long stood as a subcultural touchstone — its garments adopted as a uniform by groups across generations. From its origins in the intellectual avant-garde circles of 1970’s Italy to the Paninari youth of the ’80s, the brand quickly expanded its cultural footprint.

In the UK, its rugged, functional designs resonated with the football casuals of the ’90s, while later collections caught the attention of rappers and musicians drawn to its workwear aesthetic. Despite the differences between these communities, C.P. Company has consistently struck a chord, its style effortlessly crossing boundaries to reflect the identity and attitude of those who wear it.

These days, C.P. Company attracts fans who appreciate technical fabrics and forward-thinking design. It’s the go-to for people who want something a bit more niche than your typical luxury labels — especially those into Stone Island but looking for a more experimental twist.

C.P. COMPANY: CORE PRODUCTS & COLLECTIONS

C.P. Company is defined by decades of fearless experimentation and radical thinking. Each season, the brand returns with core silhouettes that fuse comfort and utility — garment-dyed jackets, lens-detailed overshirts, structured C.P. Company hoodies and sweatshirts, and military-inspired cargo pants. These staples are crafted from signature materials such as Chrome-R, Nycra-R, and the enduring 50 Fili, offering lightweight performance and dye-reactive finishes that deepen with age.

At the heart of C.P. Company’s identity is its pioneering spirit. Since its early explorations into fabric manipulation, the brand has reshaped outerwear through advanced textile engineering. Iconic pieces like the Mille Miglia and the Urban Down Jacket reflect this ethos, while forward-thinking series such as the Transformable line push boundaries of adaptability and form. Experimental fabrics like Rubber Wool and Kan-D further reinforce the label’s authority in blending science with style.

C.P. COMPANY JACKETS & COATS

Why do C.P. Company jackets have googles?

C.P. Company’s iconic goggle which you’ll find on coats and styles like C.P. Company puffer jackets date back to 1988, a defining year for the brand. That’s when founder Massimo Osti unveiled the Mille Miglia jacket, designed specifically for participants of the legendary thousand-mile Italian car race. Inspired by a Japanese Civil Defence hood with built-in lenses, Osti reimagined this detail into a functional fashion statement.

C.P. Company The Mille Jacket 

Created to sponsor the 1988 Mille Miglia race, the first of C.P. Company’s legendary Goggle Jackets fused high-performance design with garment innovation. Constructed from premium raw fabrics and treated with the “cotonizzato” dyeing technique, it featured goggle lenses integrated into the hood. Osti also introduced a Watchviewer lens on the wrist for added utility, alongside pockets inspired by Swiss military field jackets, reinforcing the brand’s functional, military-infused aesthetic.

C.P. Company The Explorer Jacket 

C.P. Company’s original lens-equipped design, the Explorer Jacket, debuted with Mais fabric and a fissato resin garment dye. It marked the start of the brand’s signature use of lenses in outerwear, a detail that remains a consistent feature in collections today and a defining symbol of C.P. Company’s technical and stylistic identity, serving as both a practical detail and a visual signature.

Is the C.P. Company Shell Jacket waterproof?

The C.P. Company Goggle Jacket is built to handle rainy days, with its water-resistant design and durable three-layer softshell stretch fabric. Made with multifilament yarns and bonded for a water column rating of 5000mm, it’s a smart pick for unpredictable weather.

C.P. Company T-Shirts

These t-shirts go beyond the everyday, crafted from mercerized jersey for richer color retention, enhanced tear resistance, and stretch piqué for breathable comfort. Expect to see plenty of C.P. Company logo t-shirtsthroughout the range at END., finished with embroidered or printed graphics that feature special treatments for a bold, distinctive edge.

C.P. Company Shirts & Overshirts 

Perfect for wearing solo or layering up, C.P. Company shirts cover everything from chambray to tightly woven gabardine and nylon ripstop, each treated with the brand’s signature garment dyeing technique for deep, distinctive colour. From boxy short-sleeve styles to long-sleeve C.P. Company lens shirts, they blend practicality with innovation. Technical fabrics like Chrome-R and Flatt Nylon are used across C.P. Company overshirts, delivering lightweight comfort and breathable performance.

C.P. Company Trousers 

C.P. Company trousers come in a variety of cuts, from ergonomic fits to regular styles and looser legs, balancing utility design with everyday versatility. Expect tailored chinos and cargo pants crafted from stretch sateen, known for its smooth, lustrous finish achieved through a unique weaving technique. Designed to adapt with ease, even C.P. joggers have evolved into a go-to uniform. 

C.P. COMPANY “URBAN PROTECTION” SERIES

C.P. Company has several key series and in 1998, the brand took a bold leap with one of its most visionary collections: Urban Protection, conceptualised by Moreno Ferrari. This chapter in the brand’s history reflected growing concerns around surveillance and urban living as the millennium approached. Ferrari infused the collection with wearable solutions tailored for crowded city environments — garments designed not just for style, but for survival.

From jackets featuring integrated smog-filtering masks to pieces equipped with voice recording devices, the collection anticipated themes of personal security and adaptability in urban life. Over two decades later, its innovative spirit still resonates, marking a pivotal moment when fashion responded directly to cultural anxieties and technological shifts.

C.P. COMPANY “MILLENNIUM SERIES”

Dubbed Millennium Series, typically identifiable by its reflective “000” branding and its use of lightweight, garment dyed nylon. This series was driven by a futuristic, dystopian vision, with garments designed to be both stylish and practical for an uncertain future.

C.P. COMPANY “METROPOLIS” SERIES

C.P. Company’s Metropolis Series serves as an ongoing love letter to the label’s archives, drawing heavily from the famed Urban Protection Series that debuted in the late ‘90s. The focus behind that collection was an exploration of a purely technological design language — one that placed textile innovation and cutting-edge details at the very forefront. The result is iconic garments like the Metropolis jacket — the same piece that inspires the naming of the Metropolis Series today.

Those principles form the basis of the Metropolis Series, with the label using it as a springboard to further an already-experimental approach to fabrics and construction techniques. The collection, just as it did in the late ‘90s, embodies a futuristic approach to inner-city wear, combining technical materials, industrial-inspired details and understated colourways.

C.P. COMPANY - RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION

C.P. Company’s commitment to research and innovation is embedded in its DNA. Its dedicated Research and Development unit continues to push the limits of fabric, form, and function, season after season.

The formative years of C.P. Company set the tone and this spirit traces back to founder Massimo Osti, whose graphic design background fueled a design philosophy rooted in experimentation and reinvention. Osti’s forensic approach to garment construction — studying history, materials, and utility, transformed traditional menswear into cutting-edge apparel. His legacy of asking “what if?” remains the driving force behind the brand’s relentless evolution.

For a deeper dive into C.P. Company history, we caught up in our interview with Lorenzo Osti & Paul Harveyabout the heritage and progression of C.P. Company.

C.P. COMPANY FABRICS 

From its earliest days, the brand has explored new materials, dyeing techniques, and treatments to create clothing that’s both easy to wear and rich in detail. Each garment combines comfort with a unique finish, blending tradition, technology, and performance.

Rather than viewing fabric as fixed, the label sees it as a canvas for transformation. From a vast archive of textile breakthroughs to countless colour tests and dye swatches, C.P. Company’s material research remains at the core of its identity — constantly pushing style into new territory across its outerwear, knitwear, tops and trousers. 

We spotlight the brand’s most iconic fabrics and material innovations, each one a signature developed over time, pushing boundaries in design, function, and feel:

Garment Dyeing

A cornerstone of C.P. Company’s design philosophy, garment dyeing is a technique that revolutionised how colour interacts with fabric, and the brand was the first in the world to perfect it back in the mid-1970s. Rather than dyeing raw materials, C.P. Company applies pigment as a final step to fully-constructed garments, producing clothing with unique chromatic richness and tone-on-tone subtlety.

C.P. Shell Recycled 

C.P. Shell Recycled is a technical softshell fabric engineered with sustainability in mind. Constructed from recycled polyester multifilament yarns and certified by the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), this 3-layer material offers high-performance stretch and weather protection. Its bonded structure supports a water column of 5000mm for dependable waterproofing.

Kan-D Fabric 

KAN-D — short for K(c)lear Achronic Nylon (garment) Dyed — is a unique fabric made from flattened monofilament nylon yarn. This ‘ironed’ effect gives it a high-gloss, see-through finish, making it both reflective and impressively transparent. It’s so clear, the name itself nods to vintage candy wrappers from the 1950s and ’60s, known for their sheer, playful look.

Dyneema® Fabric

With a strength-to-weight ratio eight times that of industrial steel, this fabric comes in a slick metallic finish that channels dystopian, inner-city armour. Featured in pieces like the Metropolis jacket, it has the kind of otherworldly energy that feels like it crash-landed from another planet.

Chrome-R

Crafted from 100% regenerated shiny multifilament nylon, this Chrome-R gives production scraps a second life by transforming them into a brand-new fibre. Certified by the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), its garment is dyed and treated with an anti-drop finish — designed for performance and sustainability.

Gore-Tex

Across the C.P. Company outerwear range, you’ll find plenty of styles crafted with GORE-TEX technology, including pieces made from GORE-TEX® Infinium fabric with a breathable, water-resistant 3-layer taped construction. G-type designs stand out as the pinnacle of waterproof innovation.

Rafia

Tailored from irregular flattened nylon yarn, this fabric is laminated on the reverse for added structure, then overdyed and finished with an anti-drop treatment to boost water resistance and visual depth.

50 Fili Indigo

Blending cotton and nylon, this 50 Fili Indigo stands out with its deep indigo blue hue. As it ages, the indigo dye develops a distinct patina, adding richness, depth, and character with every wear.

Feltro Bi-Film

Unveiled in 2025, Feltro Bi-Film is C.P. Company’s latest leap in textile experimentation — an innovation that challenges conventional fabric structure. Constructed without traditional warp and weft, the material uses a felted technique applied to garment-dyed nylon, resulting in a dense, tactile surface with a uniquely compact hand.