As has been noted elsewhere in the guides and brand history sections, CP Company shares a common ancestry with the Stone Island brand — both originating, as they do, from the same parent company and original designer; Massimo Osti.
No big surprise then, both brands share the same Art Number system to serve both as a means of identification and as a deterrent to those who would produce fake copies of the CP Company clothing.
CP Company Art Number
The actual Art Number system is very detailed and is designed to carry a large amount of information concerning the garment being described. Things like the exact colour processing, material processing, garment type as well as the specific brand and collection the clothing is part of.
Because of this it is possible to use the exact same Art Number System for both Stone Island and CP Company designer clothes; in fact this is exactly what Sportswear Company (SPW) owner of both brands does.
As such, some of the details that follow can also be found in — and are also relevant to — the Stone Island Art Number section of this guide. 
The Details
The image to the right shows a typical CP Company Art Number and how it is presented within the garment, in this case it’s a Mille Miglia Goggle Jacket. The tag carrying the Art Number is located on the inside seams of the garment.
The art number for this jacket is 52184263. With Art Numbers every few digits have a specific meaning, so breaking down this number we get:
- The year and Season are indicated by the first two numbers. Spring / Summer is indicated by even numbers whilst Autumn / Winter gets the odd numbers.
The following table gives the year and season numbers for 2000-2009
2000 33 32
2001 35 34
2002 37 36
2003 39 38
2004 41 40
2005 43 42
2006 45 44
2007 47 46
2008 49 48
2009 51 50
- The specific brand or label is indicated by the second two numbers, CP Company is 18.
18 - CP Company
20 - CP Donna
13 - CP Children
15 - Stone Island
- The type of garment is indicated by the fifth number as follows:
1 = Shirts
2 = T Shirts
3 = Trousers
4 = Jackets
5 = Knitwear
6 = Sweatshirts
9 = Accessories
- Next is the specific model designation as a single letter or number.
- Remaining numbers and letters before the slash “/” serve to identify what cloth or material was used and how it was treated.
- Everything after the slash indicates the exact colour and dye used — this is an internal reference to the vast library built up by CP Company over the years. It has often been said that between CP Company and Stone Island the materials and dye research is second only to NASA so expect to see an almost unlimited number of variations in these last digits.
Be Informed and Spot the Fakes
The Art Number system can, at first glance, be overwhelming. But, break it down into sections bit by bit and get a feeling for the key parts (garment type, brand, season and year codes) and you will be in a much better position to spot a lot of the fakes out there.
Remember though, as with all fake spotting, use your gut instinct and common sense. It is possible to find perfectly genuine articles that have mistakes in the Art Numbers or some other part of the item. This doesn’t mean you should not buy them if everything else “feels” right. Use your common sense and stay on guard for fakes. If it looks to good to be true — chances are good that it is.