If Stone Island is the cult favourite of the terrace, C.P. Company is its older, more cerebral sibling. Founded by the same visionary Massimo Osti C.P. Company predates Stone Island by over a decade and has its own extraordinary history of fabric innovation, functional design, and cultural influence. Today, vintage C.P. Company pieces are among the most collectible garments in the world.
The Beginning: Chester Perry, 1971
Massimo Osti launched the brand in 1971 under the name Chester Perry a fictional American character whose initials gave the brand its eventual name. From the outset, Osti's approach was unlike anything else in Italian fashion. Rather than chasing trends, he was obsessed with workwear, military surplus, and the functional clothing worn by labourers, sailors, and soldiers.
He studied vintage American workwear catalogues obsessively, collecting thousands of garments and deconstructing them to understand their construction. This research-driven approach became the DNA of C.P. Company.
The Rebrand: C.P. Company, 1978
In 1978, Chester Perry was renamed C.P. Company. By this point, Osti had already begun experimenting with garment dyeing a technique borrowed from workwear tradition where the finished garment is dyed rather than the raw fabric. The result is a unique tonal depth and a slightly irregular, lived-in quality that became a signature of both C.P. Company and, later, Stone Island.
The brand quickly developed a reputation among Italian fashion insiders for its uncompromising quality and its refusal to follow seasonal trends. Each collection was built around a specific fabric or dyeing technique rather than a colour palette or silhouette.
The Goggle Jacket: An Icon is Born
No single garment defines C.P. Company more completely than the Goggle Jacket. Introduced in the early 1980s, it features integrated goggles built directly into the hood a design so distinctive and so functional that it has never been successfully imitated.
The goggles were not a gimmick. Osti designed them for urban cyclists and motorcyclists who needed eye protection without carrying separate eyewear. The jacket's hood could be cinched tight around the face with the goggles providing a seal against wind and rain. It was genuinely functional outerwear that happened to look extraordinary.
Today, vintage Goggle Jackets particularly those from the 1980s and early 1990s command significant prices among collectors. The design has been reissued many times, but the originals are identifiable by their construction details, label typography, and fabric weight.
The Mille Miglia Connection
One of C.P. Company's most celebrated collaborations was with the Mille Miglia the legendary Italian road race. Osti designed a series of garments for the race's participants and officials, drawing on the motorsport aesthetic that would influence the brand's design language for decades. These pieces are among the rarest and most sought-after in the C.P. Company archive.
The Osti Departure and the Rivetti Era
When Massimo Osti sold his stake in both C.P. Company and Stone Island in 1993, the brands passed to the Rivetti family. Under Carlo Rivetti's stewardship, C.P. Company continued to develop its technical fabric programme while expanding internationally.
The brand's adoption by British football culture in the late 1980s and 1990s particularly in the north of England gave it a second cultural life entirely separate from its Italian fashion origins. The Goggle Jacket became a symbol of the Casual subculture, worn on terraces from Manchester to Milan.
Key Vintage C.P. Company Pieces for Collectors
- Goggle Jacket (1980s originals): The holy grail. Look for the original label typography and the specific goggle lens shape that changed in later reissues.
- Mille Miglia pieces: Extremely rare. Provenance documentation significantly increases value.
- Garment-dyed knitwear: Osti-era knitwear in unusual colourways is increasingly collectible.
- Smock jackets: The utilitarian smock silhouette is one of C.P. Company's most enduring designs. Vintage examples in good condition are highly sought after.
Browse our current selection of vintage C.P. Company pieces at Gustav's Archive, including smock jackets, windbreakers, and quartz jackets.
The Modern Era
Today, C.P. Company is owned by Trilobite S.r.l. and continues to produce technically ambitious outerwear. The brand's archive is one of the most extensively documented in fashion, and its research into fabric technology including the development of Dyneema, Econyl, and other advanced materials continues to set the standard for functional outerwear.
For collectors, the Osti era (1971–1993) remains the most prized period. These pieces were made with a freedom and obsessiveness that is difficult to replicate in a commercially scaled operation.
Read more in our complete history of Stone Island and our guide to authenticating vintage outerwear.