C. P. Company

In 1971 Massimo Osti founded the Chester Perry brand. The name is the same as the factory where Bristow, the hero of the Frank Dickens comic, worked. Massimo, referring to his experience as a graphic designer, immediately created a peculiar communication style for his company: the toy car, the posters with pop graphics and other accessories to offer as free gifts to shopkeepers. For the printing of T-shirts, jackets and shorts, Massimo used methods that at the time were adopted almost exclusively for paper: he made abundant use of the photocopier, placed silk-screen printing and four-color process. Massimo also began to experiment with garment dyeing, which has become the trademark of the brand, with all the innovations brought about in this regard on various fabrics, even synthetic ones. In 1978, the English clothing brands Chester Barry and Fred Perry simultaneously began legal action against the Bolognese designer for the use, respectively, of their name and surname. Therefore, Massimo decided to change the name from Chester Perry to C.P. Company. This name, drier and more mature, inaugurated one of the most explosive and influential creative moments in the history of Italian fashion and quickly transformed C.P. Company in the brand necessarily chosen by Italian artists and intellectuals.