Ideas from Massimo Osti” is a 412-page monograph published by Damiani, the outcome of four years’ work to celebrate one of the most famous protagonists of Italian fashion, the father of Sportswear and such brands as Stone Island, C. The method was unheard of until Osti started his work in the early 70’s, back when CP Company was still Chester Perry, with the idea to remove the stiffness from fabrics. In the early days of Stone Island, Massimo Osti spent a lot of time working on a material that seemed more suited to the military. Only history can tell what will survive, of course, and even history sometimes succumbs to the ephemeral, yet originals are both rare and easy to spot.

It was a tarpaulin made from 90% cotton, 10% polyester gauze and treated with resin, which was then dyed giving a distinct colour on each side. Working intensively with fabric treatments like dyes and stonewashes, he mastered the art of giving clothes an intensely worn, but not destroyed patina. That’s when, amidst the elements, they witnessed something both “disquieting and beautiful”: according to Goggi, a “tableau of fluctuating colors” spread across the deck of the Guapa, oozing from the jackets in a kind of “fluo mix. Ideas from Massimo Osti – published by Damiani Bologna – explores a catalytic turning point in men’s fashion.

Even at their brightest, Stone Island or CP Company garments – outerwear, mostly – never looked brand new, stiff, glaring or garish; not even the reflective pieces came across as cold and industrial.

Osti had an eclectic eye, finding inspiration in military uniforms, workwear and sportswear, all of which are staple design influences nowadays, but were far less so then,’ says veteran stylist Simon Foxton, who has been working with Stone Island for over a decade (but never with Osti himself). An innovator and creative genius, Massimo Osti’s innovations rewrote the rules of the casual menswear industry and created the fabrics of today.The system was inspired by the fastenings on horse riding chaps produces in Italy and Osti's passion for maritime sailing. P. Company and Stone Island, of one of the most respected and imitated designers of his generation (crowned the most important man of 90s menswear by Arena Homme+), whose innovations confounded the rules of the industry and created the fabrics of today. It also allows unused or leftover light shades to be re-dyed and treated for later seasons, reducing the amount of waste created. Take the wonderful Tela Stella, a stonewashed canvas based upon truck tarpaulins and impregnated with resins and aged with enzyme washes, which was the material of choice for the first three Stone Island collections.