Lorenzo Osti: So complicated. It took us two years to try to synthesize what it is. We came up with a map that was named «Arcipelago». It’s made of seas and islands; it summarizes all the values, traits, and characteristics of the brand. Long story short, there is no way to synthesize C.P. Company in a single sentence. Different people can take different roots through the values, stay consistent with the brand, but interpret it in different ways. One of the reasons why this happened is that, contrary to many fashion brands, C.P. Company always focused just on products. We don’t target people or lifestyles. That keeps it open for interpretation. Maybe if I have to synthesize, that can be kind of the core. We focus on what we’re good at. For us, it’s been garments, and especially, fabric experimentation. And we are lucky; the brand has been adopted by different subcultures in very unexpected ways: from the casual sort of football style in the UK and all over Europe, to the French rap scene, to the Paninari back in the 80s in Italy.

Basically, we don’t use anything as it comes; we always have to transfer it somehow. Every season, we come up with at least four new fabrics. The most iconic one is «50 Fili», back from the 90s. It’s a fabric made up of 33% nylon and 67% cotton and garment dyed. It’s the thing where we excel. We dye a fully finished garment. Instead of buying colored fabric, we buy white. We build everything and dye it. And we are the only ones who can garment dye apparel items, because this is very complicated. Garments react differently. It could get less ink and remain lighter. Or—more ink and get darker. So this is a very special possibility.

My father was the one who mastered it back in the day. Basically, there are two main reasons. One was industrial. If you don’t have a big number, as they did ahead of time, you cannot offer many colors. In this way, you buy white and can dye 20 different colors. So, this is a practical industrial reason. But the other reason is that my father wanted to have this more worn effect when something gets a little bit old. And experimenting with this, he saw that garment dyeing was the best way to achieve this.

I’ll give you some context. My father ended up here by chance. He was a graphic designer, and he got into this industry with no background. He wanted to do something practical, and he asked himself: «How can I do this»? He started to study and collect military wear. Because every detail is there for a reason. There is nothing purely decorative. He sketched and tried to kind of infuse this concept into the garments. That’s where the functionality comes from; he was inspired by these kinds of garments. This way, the whole creative process is so different—you have to deconstruct what you learn. And to be able to use it in another condition.

We are functionally driven and inspired, but we are not purely functional. Because in this case, you miss the emotional part. For example, mountain wear is much more functional than our pieces. But at the same time, it doesn’t give you the same emotion. Here is where the evocative part is. 

Functional is something you evoke. There is always a detail that has a function. For example, you don’t buy a jacket because its pocket is big; you buy it for something else. That is done by the innovation of the fabric, the unexpected look, and the feel of the fabric. It is all part of the emotion. You take parts of the functionality, but the emotional part is always the leading one.

Look, it’s July, but it’s autumn here in Germany. But seriously, I’m interested in that topic. We have a huge heatwave in Italy. We get easily up to 35. 

What is affecting fashion is seasonality. It’s what we face. You were buying winter stuff in September. Now, at least in southern Europe, it’s warm until November. On the other hand, we are used to start to serve summer things in February, and it probably doesn’t get hot until now (and it’s 18 degrees on the 2nd of July). We need to change the timing. 

Plastic is one of the problems we know about. But plastic is not a problem itself; it’s the usage you make of it. You can make a pacemaker that lasts 50 years and saves someone. And you can make wrapping paper that lasts 2 minutes. The same goes for fashion. I don’t want to offload the responsibility. We have it. But also, the system of fashion pushes you every 6 months to throw away and buy new. 

The recycling funnel was always leading to Africa. Before, when the general quality of the apparel was better, a smaller amount was at the end of the funnel. Now the fast fashion quality is so cheap, it’s not sellable or usable, so everything goes directly to Africa. How do we face this? Our path to sustainability consists of two things. Secondarily, we use recycling as much as possible. We replace all our best-selling fabrics with recycled versions. The other — most important and most consistent thing in our history — is longevity. We have a huge secondary market of C.P. garments from the 80s and 90s. Our garments can last long. That’s the best way to fight the impact—buy less, buy better.

Of course, sometimes you need to update your pieces. That’s why we do workshops like this. We want to teach people that if some old things are broken, they are not «dead». You can still use it and transform it, both aesthetically and functionally. From a functional point of view, we signed a partnership with United Repair Centre, a Dutch company, that support us delivering the repair service we offer to our clients through both our online platform, THE LONGEVITY HUB, and our flagship stores in Milan, Amsterdam, Riccione, London, Cannes, Lyon.

Here we teach the same: how to keep a garment relevant, adapting to changes in taste and society. I think this is the right thing we should do with fashion. Everybody needs to dress, but we don’t need to buy 50 new items every year.

It’s true. Education will make people aware of what is happening because of fast fashion. However, it is more complicated. Indeed, for some people, buying fast fashion can be impulsive and light. But buying a high quality piece of €1,000 that could last 40 years is like buying a house in proportion.

Yes, you need to be sure you will use it. Education could help. On the other hand, I think we need regulations from the institution. The free market never led to all good. We always say that there is a downside. You produce a lot; you have to take care of your waste. We need to tell people that when you don’t wear clothes anymore, you bring them back to the store, and they will take care of that. It’s a brand’s responsibility, and that’s fair. 

This is another problem, even more complicated, because it is transnational: you sell here, but you create damage there. And sometimes it’s difficult to prove. I know it because we did all the auditing of our supply chain. I understand that even if you want to fix it, it’s difficult.

It’s amazing to work with them. You know, as it happens in a close and serious partnership, it is a love–hate relationship. As I said, because we always want to push the boundaries, we never take the fabric as it is. We want to dye; we want to transform. So it is a lot of work for them. At the same time, it pushes us out of our comfort zone.

In our brand, there is a guarantee of performance. So we made an invitation. It’s not automatic. You have to apply and have some standards. They also have their own regulations.

Buy less, buy better, 100%! I also would like to move away from seasonality. Clients need to extend the shelf life. We have to create something that has a purpose and is useful. And not forced by the industry to do and throw away. But there is a big resistance to the idea of buying less. If you are a brand, you have to grow, and you cannot sell less. Otherwise, how can you make money? And so, who is ready to accept slowing down and selling less?