Stone Island and CP Company had their work cut out to find an heir to the throne, and initially they managed to find someone who could fill the big boots Osti left behind. Middlesbrough based designer Paul Harvey done a fantastic job in taking over Stone Island where Osti left off, and many more seasons of excellent understated knitwear and outerwear continued, while CP Company’s new designer Moreno Ferrari came up with the Urban Protection concept in the late 90’s. The jackets from this collection used heavy duty materials but each item brought a twist. The “Metropolis” had a built in Smog mask, the “Rem” a tape recorder, and the spectacular “Move” had a harness with a fold away scooter.
While this was going on, Massimo created a series of now cult labels which continued an understated look. World Wide Web and ST 95 did not make a big impact, but Left Hand in the late 90’s left a great impression with excellent outerwear collections. It was not long before Osti was snapped up by the Levi’s brand to lead a project for them. Faced at the time by fierce competition in the denim world, Levis sales had flagged and producing the same denim was not enough in a competitive market place. The innovations Osti put in place arguably spurred on Levis to what it has become today, a denim producer proud of its heritage (reflected in its premium vintage label) but also an innovator who could come up with ideas like twisted denim.
With Massimo’s inspiration of fusing technology and clothing, he came up with the Levis ICD+ Courier jacket boasted an integrated MP3 player, mobile phone, headphones, and a control panel for easy operation of the devices. Just to be practical, it also had a fold away feature. Only 1,000 were produced in a few colours and as with so many huge innovations, it was not a hit. But now a few years down the line clothing manufacturers are looking at ways of integrating MP3 players with coats. Osti also worked for Dockers, the khaki branch of Levis, and those who thought there simply wasn’t much innovation to be applied to a khaki brand were proved wrong. The biggest seller of the collection were trousers which fused the idea of combat trousers with a pair of Dockers, creating a unique design with zip open bottoms, reinforced knees, and lots of pockets. But the big talking point from buyers up and down the country who had viewed the collection was the availability of actual chain mail trousers…naturally the weight and the lack of medieval spirit meant few retailers took up the offer.
But the designers work was to be cut short just when he was getting his creation line back into full flow. A bout of cancer hit Osti who went into retirement while he fought for several years with the illness, and he seemed to have made a full recovery when he released his Double Use Massimo Osti line of reversible knitwear. But the unpredictable nature of this disease was shown when Osti died just short of his 60th birthday. The legacy of the designer and the hole left in the fashion world is enormous. His biggest fans, the British football fraternity, were constantly waiting for his next creations years after year. But the news is that his Double Use line will continue, with his son taking up the reign to continue his work. We hope that Massimo’s greatness has rubbed off on his son, and that we may continue to wear Osti creations from whichever part of the bloodline, for years to come.
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