Osti

Massimo Osti (1944-2005). Italian designer. He was seen as a “designer of clothing-objects.” He favoured comfort and practicality over fashion trends. His work was based on research: the combined use of different materials, special finishes, and dyeing and the waterproofing of different types of fabric. He used a new material devised by Japanese technological research for his summer 1991 collection to make a waterproof reflective jacket, which picked up even the weakest light sources through glass micro-spheres. As well as being sold in the shops, the Reflective Jacket is used for mountain and sailing expeditions, and in other situations where people need to be easily visible to rescuers in case of emergency. The use of this fabric, the result of research into natural materials, has revolutionized a traditionally conservative field.
In 1999 the fashion magazine Arena Homme Plus nominated the Italian fashion designer, who created the Stone Island label, as the most influential fashion designer of the 1990s.
Summer 2000, the launch of Levi’s ICD+, the result of the an Osti-Levi’s-Philips collaboration and the first credible example of technological clothing. A range of jackets with mobile phone and MP3 player incorporated into the pockets, the result of a long term Philip’s project called Wearable Electronics. Every time that the phone rings, the MP3 player stops playing. The jackets are made of waterproof and washable fabric.
2005. The designer died in Bologna after a long illness. He left a wife and two sons, plus a daughter born from his relationship with the actress Isabella Ferrari.