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Bloomberg
21 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
HPS, Arcmont Provide €25 Million in Fresh Funds to Dainese
HPS Investment Partners and Arcmont Asset Management provided €25 million ($29.3 million) of fresh funding to ailing Italian sportswear maker Dainese SpA as part of broader negotiations that could see the private-credit funds take over the business. Dainese has issued the new debt as private notes due in three years, according to a statement from the company on Tuesday. HPS and Arcmont had already underwritten €285 million of notes maturing in 2028 to finance Carlyle Group Inc. 's buyout of Dainese in 2022.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside the Larger-than-life Legacy of C.P. Company and Stone Island Founder Massimo Osti
BOLOGNA, Italy — Massimo Osti's legacy is larger than life. The maverick designer and fashion entrepreneur, who died in 2005 of lung cancer, has been at the forefront of innovation, pioneering the garment-dyeing, screen printing and decoupage techniques, inventing brushed wool and rubber flax and helping to define the notion of Italian sportswear — filled with military and utilitarian references — as it's known today. More from WWD EXCLUSIVE: With Robots and Trunk Towers, Louis Vuitton Goes Big With Osaka Exhibition Leave It to Jordan Roth to Try on the Louvre Pyramid as a Skirt An Exhibition Created by Alejandro G. Iñárritu Is Coming to Fondazione Prada in Milan This Fall His work ethic was ironbound, his creativity often chaotic, his studio on Bologna's Via Gaibola a wunderkammer of sorts where the textile-nerd creative masterminded more brands than arguably any other designer. These included in 1967, Chomp Chomp…, a line of graphic T-shirts hinged on pop culture and Osti's obsession for comic strips; Chester Perry, founded in 1971 as the progenitor to C.P. Company, into which it was renamed in 1978; Boneville in 1981; Left Hand in 1993, which led him to develop textiles resistant to nuclear radiations, and Massimo Osti Production in 1995, among others. All along the way, the designer has been fueled by an engineer-like mindset and methods, always on the hunt for technical feats and newness. Summing up his heritage and impact isn't easy, but a new exhibition — titled 'Ideas From Massimo Osti. From Bologna, Beyond Fashion' — has bowed at Palazzo Pepoli in Bologna and runs through Sept. 28, aiming to spotlight the unknown facets of the designer's creativity and career. 'He was a communicator more than a designer,' said Lorenzo Osti, his son and current president of C.P. Company and Massimo Osti Studio, walking WWD through the exhibit. 'He never looked back, never leveraged his successes from the past.' The two-room exhibiting space is filled with memorabilia, garments and a reproduction of his studio. Lorenzo Osti is a passionate storyteller of his father's legacy, sharing many anecdotes that shed an interesting light on the designer's eclectic talent, 'whose work method was steeped in layers,' as his son put it. 'I love the order in disorder, the logic into chaos,' reads a Massimo Osti note on paper displayed in the exhibition. The exhibition is flanked by a 430-page book of the same title. 'It took us four years of research to compile the book,' Lorenzo Osti said. 'Nobody in the family was involved in his business or work life. He left everything as it was when he died, as if he were just taking a lunch break.' Born in 1944 in Baricella, in the greater Bologna metropolitan area, Massimo Osti quit his education after high school to become a salesman for Pirelli. After attending the Cedis evening school in commercial graphic design, he ventured on a new career by opening the CD2 advertising agency and working with women's knitwear company Anna Gobbi, for which he created graphic T-shirts with silhouetted swimmers and trompe l'oeil knits through to corporate parties' invites. He never considered himself a fashion designer, Lorenzo Osti explained, nor did he have any formal education in fashion, but managed to develop a peculiar design method, for example, photocopying full-sized elements from military or workwear jackets found in books and assembling them in paper collages — Frankenstein-like — to prototype new garments. A Bauhaus-inspired creative approach informed his career, in that function always led his design ethos over form, taking cues from vintage military and utilitarian gear, which he collected in large quantities believed to tally about 35,000 items, according to Lorenzo Osti. The designer's most recognized legacy may be in fashion items. These include C.P. Company's Explorer jacket and Goggle jacket — the latter introduced in 1988, mirroring a Japanese military protective hood with built-in, gas mask-inspired lenses on the hood and left sleeve to read watches and later used by drivers in the Mille Miglia car race. Or the Stone Island Zeltbahn Cape, its shape inspired by military outerwear that doubled up as a tent, crafted from the dual-color, resin-coated cotton canvas Tela Stella, which is known for its washed effect and was originally intended for truck tarps. But his creative output has always been larger than textile innovation and fashion design. Communication; advertising; furniture, with a line of Alvar Aalto-inspired designs; industrial design, with a prototype for the Vespa 50 scooter and for an electric car named Boxel P488 developed in tandem with Paolo Pasquini, as well as new business models with innovative store concepts are all part of his legacy. For one, he envisioned Made in China, a new brand hinged on a streamlined offering of 12 tops and knits per season designed by the Italian Osti and manufactured in China from cotton, wool, cashmere and wool 'with an extraordinary value for many propositions,' archival documents read. Similarly, the ethical OM Project line from 1997 and 1998 was forward-looking. It centered on providing points of sale with a computer station for clients to customize their own jackets that would be produced on-demand, thus reducing distribution costs and generating higher margins to be partially earmarked to charity projects for underprivileged children. The exhibition is an appetizer, meant to create a hunger for more knowledge, which can be satisfied by roaming the Massimo Osti Archive, established by the Osti family in 2006 and led by Lorenzo's sister, Agata. Housed inside a 3,229-square-foot, medieval warehouse in downtown Bologna, it is filled with more than 5,000 garments, 1,200 accessories, 60,000 fabric samples and an extended library of magazines, books, prints and other paraphernalia. Stacked in corners, garment racks and display tables, they are a meticulous but non-comprehensive overview of Osti's body of work. Still inspirational, they are used daily by the team behind C.P. Company and the Massimo Osti Studio brand, the latter a spin-off of the former intended as a playground for experimentation hinged on the forward-looking design agenda of the maverick designer. The rest of the archive was sold by Massimo Osti himself just before his death to David Chu, the American designer with Taiwanese roots who founded men's outerwear and sportswear company Nautica. The latter donated the 36,000-piece collection to the China Design Museum inside the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. The cultural institution has since mounted a permanent exhibition, titled 'The Collection of Massimo Osti Menswear.' In 2021, C.P. Company marked its 50th anniversary with an exhibition titled 'Cinquanta: A Retrospective on 50 Years of Sportswear Innovation by C.P. Company' and the book 'C.P. Company 971 – 021: An Informal History of Italian Sportswear,' with images by Neil Bedford, in addition to other activations. Both were interesting retrospective views on one of the two brands that best encapsulate Osti's legacy, but Bologna's archives spark a bigger narrative, for example on the role played by the Italian second-tier city in shaping his work, which was the result of cross-pollination and interactions with plenty of multidiscipline creatives gravitating around Bologna. To this end, a new book in the works with publishing house Corraini is intended to spotlight how the dialogue between Osti and other prominent figures from Italy's and the city's cultural milieu between the '70s and early 2000s, including singer Lucio Dalla and cartoonist Andrea Pazienza, shaped his vision. 'I believe that brands work when they manage to grasp the zeitgeist and societal change and translate its pulse [into fashion],' Lorenzo Osti opined. This view — which his father shared, he said — in part explains the appeal of Massimo Osti's brands and creations to a broader and international audience. These included the British so-called 'casual' subculture of soccer fans, rooted in the terraces of stadiums across the U.K., particularly Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, who helped propel C.P. Company's and, to some extent, Stone Island's global fame across the '80s and '90s. In keeping with its British ties, C.P. Company on Monday is unveiling a capsule collection with retailer End to mark the latter's 20th anniversary. Called 'Corner Shop,' the lineup draws inspiration from the independently run convenience store typically located on residential street corners, with three key outerwear styles and shoulder bag crafted from the new Kan-D fabric, a monofilament nylon with a transparent, luminous, cellophane-like finish. Massimo Osti left C.P. Company and Stone Island in 1994 and 1995, respectively. The former has undergone many ownership changes since, until it was acquired in 2015 by the Chinese Tristate Holdings Ltd., helmed by chairman and chief executive officer Peter Wang. The latter, owned by Carlo Rivetti and his family since the '80s, was sold to Moncler in 2020, which took full control a few months later by acquiring the remaining 30 percent stake in the brand owned by the Singapore-based Temasek. Best of WWD Which British Royal Is Heir to Prince Philip's Style Crown? Milan Men's Fashion Week to Attract JW Anderson, 1017 Alyx 9SM, 44 Label Group Men Need Five Shoe Styles, According to Doucal's
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Harry Kane, an unusual sponsorship and what it tells us about the business of sport
Thomas Muller saw the branded cap and immediately called over Harry Kane. It was the night after Bayern Munich lost against Aston Villa in the Champions League in October and, true to German tradition, a post-match meal for the players, guests and club executives had been organised at The Belfry Hotel & Resort nearby. Advertisement Muller was excited because for months he had listened to stories about this particular brand during rounds of golf and daily conversations about the sport with Kane, his Bayern team-mate. 'Harry, come here, there's a guy wearing Reflo,' he shouted, only for Kane to shake his head and explain with a laugh that the man in front of him was Rory MacFadyen, the firm's co-founder. You can forgive Muller for not recognising MacFadyen. Reflo, a sportswear brand whose products are made from recycled waste, are early into the journey and still growing in profile. Its other partners are Luton Town and Forest Green Rovers — two relative minnows in English football's ecosystem — and three Formula E teams. While it did recently produce a collection for The Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club, it is the link-up with Kane — one of the planet's most recognisable footballers — which stands out. The tie-up clearly makes sense for Reflo, but what's in it for a man who, as England captain and the centre-forward for one of Europe's biggest clubs, could have his pick of major brands? For Kane, there was an attraction in being able to involve himself in Reflo rather than simply being a passive investor or ambassador. He found the firm's eco-credentials appealing — they have pledged to planting one million trees in Madagascar and Mozambique — and has focused on granular details since his brother, Charlie, first approached Reflo wanting to know more about its plans. The fact that Reflo is active in golf is another major plus for a player who plays off a three handicap. 'He gives us feedback on the product and explains what he likes to see,' MacFadyen tells The Athletic, 18 months into the partnership. 'He loves to open a door for us. 'After an England game recently, I was chatting to a very, very well-known professional golfer, who I didn't know, and he told me how Harry had already explained everything about Reflo which was cool to hear. To know that he's just chatting to his mates, like Thomas Muller, about us is cool. He's the perfect partner.' Kane is no stranger to an unexpected partnership. He switched his boot deal from Nike to Skechers in 2023 and like a growing list of high-profile athletes, is keen to blaze a trail with a brand on his own as the main man rather than one of many. There is also a growing trend for athletes with a gilded status and marketing appeal to want more than just an ambassador role with a more famous brand. Advertisement Tennis great Roger Federer did the same when he left Nike in 2018 and linked up with On Running, initially as a three per cent owner. Federer represented the brand at the US Open that same year and his global appeal elevated the Swiss footwear brand's visibility and credibility to a level that has reshaped the athletic footwear landscape ever since. 'Athletes are a lot more value-driven now, so in terms of brand matching or setting up businesses, they want to do something that's centred around purpose, or something that they believe in and are quite passionate about,' says Joe Davis, a former footballer who set up a business helping footballers transition from professional sport into entrepreneurship. 'Their desire is to work with brands who have aligned values and a similar outlook. Founders are also playing a more important role now as they connect with talent. Before, they used to give the marketing team a budget to go out and source athletes as talent for campaigns or ambassador contracts, yet now they are working more directly with the athletes because they're more selective on who they bring in. 'It's about building a deep relationship and actually buying into the product and the service that is being offered.' The success basketball star Stephen Curry has had with Under Armour since moving across from Nike in 2013 is another stand out example. The Golden State Warriors point guard helped produce 12 signature shoes, the last five of those have been under Curry Brand, a sub-brand of Under Armour focusing on footwear and apparel. 'What we really have right now is the truest form of a partnership,' says Nana Dadzie, the head of marketing at Curry Brand. 'It's one thing to be a signature athlete but it's another to start a brand underneath a brand and do something a little bit bigger. 'Stephen is the president of Curry Brand and that shows you how involved he is with the design of the shoes, the marketing, and the signing of other athletes. He's been able to build out what we want to be a legacy brand.' Curry, now 37, wants to leave behind more than just memories when he stops playing basketball, which is something the partnership enables him to do. Earlier this year Curry Brand completed a 20th court completion in five years as part of a target to help the development of youngsters interested in basketball. Advertisement One of the reasons new Liverpool right-back Jeremie Frimpong agreed to a mega boot deal with New Balance earlier this year was their ability to help deliver his off-field plans within the community. New Balance supports Frimpong's non-profit The Pathways Project, a career-transition initiative designed for footballers aged 15-22, with a focus on professional academy players, to guide them through exploring career pathways beyond football. Of course, hefty sums — reported as a £20million deal for Frimpong when it was announced — remain a major incentive. A year before Curry signed a long-term extension with Under Armour — which could become a lifetime contract if certain revenue targets are met — he disclosed to Rolling Stone that the deal could be worth upwards of $1billion. Money matters, of course, but so, too, does legacy and the optics of any deals, and that combination appears to be influencing some of the best athletes in the world when they choose their partnerships. (Top image courtesy of Reflo)
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Claire McCardell' Review: Practical Elegance
In the 2022 exhibition 'In America: An Anthology of Fashion,' staged in the American Wing period rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one tableau stood out from the rest. Framed in the meditative Shaker Retiring Room (ca. 1835), flooded with warm light, five mannequins wore dresses designed between 1938 and 1949, all of them the work of one woman. Here was the dawn of American sportswear. In the seeming simplicity of their problem solving and their honest use of buttons, belts and drawstrings, these garments, by the American phenom Claire McCardell (1905-58), clearly share the Shakers' values. Yet in their lean lines and rejection of froufrou, and in their sturdy materials with built-in wear, they are unquestionably midcentury modern. McCardell dropped into the rag-trade ecosystem in 1929, when big-fish suits were forcing backroom guppies to copy Parisian trends. She proceeded to ignore Paris, instead absorbing American ideals into affordable fashions for the Everywoman. She was not so much a bomb going off as a stealthy tectonic shift. But bombs get more attention. While McCardell is revered by fashion scholars and a continuing cycle of designers she's inspired (for instance Tory Burch, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi), there are many in the general public—fashionistas and design hounds among them—who don't know her name or its significance. The discontinuation of her label, following her death from colon cancer at the age of 52, began the erasure. Which is why Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's 'Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free'—the first comprehensive McCardell biography—is so welcome. This book, Ms. Dickinson's first, grew out of a 2018 feature the journalist wrote for the Washington Post Magazine—an 80th-anniversary tribute to McCardell's breakthrough, her 1938 Monastic dress. Based on an Algerian robe, it was shaped like a tent and cut on the bias; add a belt and the folds could be arranged to flatter every figure. The dress would be a perennial must-have with many variations.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Before Trump, Indonesia Had Another Trade Headache: China
For more than a decade, Rudi Hendri sold locally made clothes from a stall inside Jakarta's labyrinthine Tanah Abang market. Then three years ago, a businessman from China and his translator showed up with a proposition and changed everything. They brought samples of sportswear, made in Chinese factories, that were well made and cheaper than the Indonesian-made wares Mr. Rudi had always sold. Mr. Rudi, 55, felt he couldn't say no. Now he runs three stalls and has a partnership with multiple Chinese factories. 'If the product quality is good and the price is right for me, I'll take that,' Mr. Rudi said last week at Tanah Abang. Nearby, his workers sifted through a mountain of Chinese-made clothes. When President Trump complains that trade with China is killing jobs, it resonates in Indonesia. But it is Indonesian jobs that cannot compete: The country has been dealing with China's outsize influence on every aspect of its economy for more than a decade. 'The worst-case scenario is not that we can't export,' said Redma Gita Wirawasta, the chairman of the Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association, referring to Mr. Trump's tariffs on Indonesian goods. 'The worst-case scenario is that more and more Chinese goods will come to Indonesia.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
