Introduction

C.P. COMPANY 971-021. An Informal History of Italian Sportswear features fifty photographic portraits of individuals connected to the brand wearing archival garments spanning the company's 50-year history. The introduction contextualises how C.P. Company and modern menswear frequently references garments derived for military, sporting, or utilitarian purposes. It investigates how these archetypal garments appeal to a desire by men to be part of a larger group, obtaining both a sense of shared identity and a form of personal anonymity by inhabiting such uniforms. By wearing specific clothing, these men's shared values and characteristics are codified and communicated to each other and to the outside world. As a result, these garments serve to make men both visible and invisible