C.P. Company / Aitor Throup: The evolution of an icon

April absolutely flew by for me. I am quite sure that someone had their finger firmly pressed on the fast forward button throughout those supposedly thirty days because I was little more than a voyeur as everything passed me by. With this in mind I need a little time in May to catch up on everything that I missed. One such missed event was the exhibition to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of C.P. Company's most iconic piece, the Mille Miglia Jacket which saw Aitor Throup design the latest incarnation.

Throup's sketch of his design for the 1000m Goggle Jacket

From the very first jacket made for the sponsoring of the Mille Miglia car race to the special edition created in collaboration with Aitor Throup, C.P. Company’s journey is told through the different steps of this iconic item which, season after season, has been subject to continuous transformation and experimentation. As always with Throup the exhibition tells a story of materials, special treatments and shape research.


For the benefit of those of you who are unfamiliar with the Mille Miglia and the role of C.P Company in its history...the Mille Miglia Car race, was a one thousand miles open-road endurance race that started in 1927. In 1988 C.P. Company sponsored the race and for this special occasion Massimo Osti exclusively designed and produced, as a promotional piece for the Mille Miglia competitors, the very first Goggle Jacket.

To celebrate both the past and future of this jacket the company hosted a special exhibition at their showroom in Milan during the 2009 International Furniture Fair. The exhibition, curated by Aitor Throup, featured the new design as well as 20 Mille Miglia jackets selected from the C.P. Company archive. Of course I was unable to visit myself but through the wonders of the Internet we can all live vicariously through thenonplace who was fortunate enough to see Throup's interpretation of the iconic Osti design first hand.

Aitor Throup had this to say on the 1000m Goggle Jacket: "I have taken a literal approach to driving ergonomics and functionality, with the aim of creating a piece which is even further informed by its driving concept than the original."

As mentioned every time I jot down the designer's name, I was fortunate enough to listen in to his conversation with Sarah Mower at the V&A last Summer and during this chat Throup's face lit up and his passion took over as soon as he started talking about this iconic jacket. Both the label and the jacket mean so much to him. During the 80s the C.P. Company was a label of choice for the football 'casual' and has ultimately become something of a taboo here despite being held in high regard throughout the rest of Europe. For Throup the brand has not had the respect and attention that the designs deserve and this exhibition will hopefully change a few people's perceptions and understanding of C.P. Company. For more information on the exhibition and Throup's design please visit Being Hunted's Youtube page because they have recently uploaded three videos shot in Milan during the exhibition (including the Twenty Jackets installation, an interview with Aitor, as well as a closer peek at his 20th anniversary Goggle Jacket).