Mission

“When I start scribbling the first sketches for a season I always ask myself: but where from do I start? Then I go upstairs, I rummage through my archive and I always find a leading hint, the leitmotif...”

MASSIMO OSTI

When he passed away in 2005, Massimo Osti left a huge legacy along with a vast and complicated inventory made of his own creations, items that he obsessivly collected and and unfinished projects. Re-organized by his family members, the archive based in Bologna now counts on a collection of more than 5.000 garments, accessories, lab dips, fabric samples and an extended library of magazine, books and prints.

Massimo Osti Archive’s objective is to create collaboration projects and cultural products - such as books or documentaries – that respects the designer’s ethos and help partners to enhance their design vision and their cultural relevance. Today Massimo Osti’s legacy is around us, not only in the world of sportswear, but also in the anti-fashion approach to the industry, in his pioneeristic vision of the design process, in the attention to the environment, in the importance of unconventional communication and many many other aspects that had a remarkable cultural impact on the everyday life. The archive is constantly updated through ongoing acquisition campaigns of rare and unique garments, correspondence, drawings, etc. - need- ed for a clearer understanding of Ost’s work.

Photography: Elliot Kennedy - Art Direction: LAW - Styling: Akhnaton Selbonne-Willie - Grooming: Holly Reza Westwood - Model: Frankie at Brother

“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.