For its autumn-winter 2026 collection, the House of C.P. Company places Roberto Baggio in its archives, alongside Lorenzo Osti. The project extends a conversation begun in issue 5 of Arcipelago Magazine. It rests on a single idea: to give up the sporting narrative.
The set-up involves few elements. A film directed by Marco Proserpio, photographs by Neil Bedford, and one setting: the House’s archives, garments, documents and notes gathered over more than fifty years of sportswear research. Roberto Baggio moves through them. Lorenzo Osti, president of C.P. Company and son of its founder Massimo Osti, accompanies him. Baggio wears the FW026 collection.
The link between the former player and the House rests on two coordinates. C.P. Company was born in Bologna in 1971. In 1997, Bologna also hosted one of the chapters of Baggio’s career; he is originally from Vicenza. Everything else is a matter of attitude: perseverance, humility, discipline, daily work.
This is where the project needs to be read with care. These qualities would suit any campaign featuring an athlete. They prove nothing as long as we do not know what the archive shows of them. The presentation text quotes Roberto Baggio: “If we stop halfway, we risk never understanding the value of things.” This is a statement reported by the House. It describes a method, not a garment.
The title, for its part, sets a rule: Sportswear, not for playing in. The pieces are meant to be looked at, not worn on a pitch. The choice to film a man leafing through notes rather than an athletic gesture points the same way. Its authors speak of an “intimate and contemplative” portrait, which makes the result hard to judge in advance. A contemplative portrait succeeds or fails on a detail: the document Baggio keeps in hand, the length of the shot, the archive object the camera chooses not to leave.
At this stage, the project is worth what its casting and its approach are worth. It pairs a player whose career is known to all with a family that keeps the history of a House. It remains to be seen whether the film lets the archives speak or leaves them in the background.
Also on Luxsure: C.P. Company — Metropolis Series Autumn/Winter 025 · C.P. Company Metropolis: clothing as a protection system · C.P. Company in Copenhagen: when the archive becomes creation · Mackintosh x C.P. Company: rubberised cotton meets the Bologna goggle
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