Inventory

The archive, set in Bologna medioeval city center, is the physical portfolio of Massimo Osti’s work and the synthesis of his unique creative path.

The 300 square meters building hosts more than 5.000 pieces, from Osti’s earliest prototypes to 60s Russian spacesuits, from garment dyeing lab dips to exclusive print patterns.

This extensive fabric and cultural library have been built in over than 30 years of work and fructuous collaborations with more than 360 fabric companies and laboratories.

The most exciting part of the Massimo Osti Archive is something that can’t be found in any of the other archives: exclusive and unfinished projects by Massimo Osti that, for several reasons, never saw the light. Spanning from futuristic visions of the cities, electric cars and amazing collaborations with excellences from the automotive industry, those projects are the proof of Osti’s ability to work outside his own comfort zone and to adapt his pioneeristic vision outside fashion and apparel. This gigantic body of works is precisely organized and maintained through an accurate inventory that counts:

4.570

GARMENTS

+ 50.000

FABRIC SWATCH

Thousands

GARMENT DYEING TESTS

1129

ACCESSORIES
& DETAILS

60

PROJECT
ON PAPERS

89

POSTER
& PRINTS

Thousands

MAGAZINE

“In my opinion, a product can be called modern when its shape is modelled on its function.”

MASSIMO OSTI

While most consider the name of Massimo Osti an exclusive association with the sportswear and outerwear industry, over the last years his name became well known to the public thanks to a resurgent interest in the 90s and in the Italian sportswear.

Teenagers from all over the World discovered the essence of sportswear from the subcultures that came before them. Not living that moment, changed their perception of sportswear into an aspirational cult. The same way military vintage became an obsession two decades ago for the previous generation. This generation grew up with the desire of owning their father or their older brother’s jacket. Most likely a flashy green rubber jacket designed by a guy in Bologna.