Exhibition and shop-in-shop in Copenhagen for C.P. Company

To mark Copenhagen Fashion Week, C.P. Company presented the archive exhibition “People Make The Clothes, Clothes Make The People” in the Danish capital at Other Circle, an interdisciplinary platform that brings together design, fashion and contemporary culture from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The exhibition traces over fifty years of the Italian brand’s history and innovation in contemporary sportswear.

The title of the exhibition encapsulates a principle at the heart of the brand. For C.P. Company, the exhibition title expresses the central role of the human factor at every stage of the creative process: a tribute to the insights that arise from direct experimentation, that very same spirit that drives the brand to innovate relentlessly, exploring new dimensions of functionality and aesthetics. Behind every garment lie the hands and vision of those who conceived it, crafted it and, over time, transformed it into a symbol of identity for entire communities, from football to motorsport and music. Alongside this principle, the exhibition places the archive at the heart of C.P. Company’s evolution as a tool for preservation, research and study – and far more than a mere repository of memories: the beating heart from which every design idea is born. A past that is not merely observed, but lived within and continually reinvented, a testament to what has been and the seed of what is yet to come.

The exhibition is spread across two rooms. The first brings together a selection of iconic archive pieces, organised into thematic sections, which trace the brand’s evolution over the decades: from the early graphic experiments on T-shirts and knitwear designed by the founder of C.P. Company, Massimo Osti, in the early 1970s, to the most iconic versions of the Goggle Jacket and the Explorer Jacket, right through to research into innovative treatments such as Tinto Terra and garment-dyed Goretex. Each garment reflects the vision of the designers who have guided the brand’s creative direction since Osti: Moreno Ferrari, Alessandro Pungetti, Paul Harvey and Leonardo Fasolo. Following this evolutionary thread, the arrangement of the archive pieces within the display cases echoes an exhibition method developed by Massimo Osti and first presented at the retrospective marking the brand’s fifteenth anniversary in Berlin in 1987. The garments are presented as archival documents, highlighting their value in terms of research, design and experimentation beyond their original function. Having become one of the most recognisable elements of C.P. Company’s exhibition style over the years, this system was also used for the exhibition marking the brand’s fiftieth anniversary in 2021 and returns as an integral part of the narrative of its history. The second room is dedicated to garment dyeing, the technique that, more than any other, defines C.P. Company’s identity. At its centre, a cylindrical installation displays a single jacket dyed in a progression of different colours, revealing the magic of the technique through its infinite shades and chromatic variations. To mark the exhibition, which closes today, on 27 July C.P. Company opened a shop-in-shop at the ILLUM department store in Copenhagen, showcasing the Autumn/Winter 26–27 collection.

In 1971, Massimo Osti, who would come to be recognised as the ‘godfather of urban sportswear’, founded the Chester Perry brand, famous for its screen-printed T-shirts. In 1978, he changed the name to C.P. Company. This more concise and sophisticated name heralded one of the most explosive and influential bursts of creativity in the history of sportswear. The Metropolis Series stems from a reinterpretation of the design language and original concept of C.P. Company’s historic Urban Protection line, first launched in 1999. Characterised by high-performance fabrics and the integration of innovative industrial production techniques drawn from various sectors, The Metropolis Series embodies C.P. Company’s vision of urban agility.