Stone Island
TypeSocietà per azioni
IndustryFashion
Founded1982 (1982) in Ravarino, Italy
FounderMassimo Osti
HeadquartersRavarino, Italy
Key people
Robert Triefus (CEO)
Revenue€401 million (2022)[1]
ParentMoncler
WebsiteStone Island

Stone Island is an Italian luxury fashion house specialized in men's apparel, outerwear, and accessories headquartered in Ravarino, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Its core branding includes a Nautical star and compass, both of which is printed or overlayed atop a button-on cloth badge with green, yellow, and black detailing.

Founded in 1982 by Massimo Osti, the brand popularized during the 1980s and 1990s in Europe and Japan, and during the 2010s, in the U.S. and Canada. Stone Island uses trademark reflective fabric, dyeing compounds, and surface treatments to produce garments. It was acquired by Italian fashion house Moncler in 2020 for €1.15 billion.[2][3]

It is a global staple of youth subculture as characterized by Italian Paninaro, English football casual, British, American, and Canadian hip hop culture, as well as world-wide streetwear.[4][5]

History

Designer Massimo Osti founded Stone Island in 1982, in Ravarino, Italy. He founded the brand to compliment his flagship label, C.P. Company, which he started in 1971.[6] Osti sold 50% of Stone Island to GFT (Gruppo Finanziario Tessile) in 1983, before selling the remaining half to GFT in 1991. He left the company in 1994 and was succeeded by Paul Harvey as head designer from 1996 to 2008. GFT sold Stone Island to Italian businessman Carlo Rivetti in 1993 who combined the label with C.P. Company Sportswear Company SpA.[7] Stone Island rapidly popularized during the 1990s in Europe and Japan, and during the 2010s, in the U.S. and Canada.[8]

In 2017, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings bought out a 30% stake in Stone Island valued at €345 million.[9][10] Three years later, Italian fashion house Moncler bought a majority stake in Stone Island for a reported €1.15 billion.[11][2] Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, Stone Island collaborated with other design companies such as Supreme, James Jebbia, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, among others.[12]

Brand identity

Stone Island's yellow-green Compass Badge, 2013

The name Stone Island is derived from Polish-British pre-modernist writer Joseph Conrad's novels wherein the words "stone" and "island" appear most frequently.[13][14] According to founder Massimo Osti, his novels' exploration of "boats and sea" moved him to create a brand with "[a] new sensibility oriented to science instead of fashion".[12] The brand emphasizes anti-fashion, prioritizing function over form.[12] The logo references a compass, afixed with a Nautical star. It is recognizable by the use of a cloth badge that features the compass design on the left-side of a garment.[15]

Stone Island focuses on technical apparel research, development, and manufacturing.[16] It is known for its approach to fabrication through a range of dyeing techniques and surface treatments. These include the use of Raso Gommato in 1983, thermosensitive fabric in 1987, rubber wool in 1987, and reflective fabric in 1991. Originally the patches were green edged, badges from around the year 2000 onwards became black edged.

Subculture

Stone Island became influential in youth subculture for "wealthy middle-class teens" in Italy during the late 1980s for their unconventional fabrics and silhouettes.[12] From the mid 1990s the brand popularized in the football casual subculture in England and throughout the rest of Europe.[17] The brand is often associated with hooliganism and can be seen in many football hooliganism based films, such as Green Street and The Football Factory. Its presence in the U.S. and Canada starting in the early 2000s was bolstered by streetwear and hip hop culture.[8] Its largest consumer base was noted by Esquire as being "Milanese youth, English football fanatics, [athletes], and [celebrities]".[5] British magazine i-D described Stone Island as a high-end status symbol among youth who show off the compass logo in a practice known as "getting the badge in".[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Moncler Buys Stone Island in Transformative Move". 7 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Tognini, Giacomo. "Italian Billionaire Remo Ruffini Adding Hip-Hop Favored Label Stone Island To His Pricey Sportswear Brand Moncler". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  3. ↑ "Moncler mette le mani su Stone Island per 1,15 miliardi di euro". forbes.it. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 Gordan, Callum (May 7, 2019). "An ode to Stone Island, the brand that Britain misunderstood". i-d.vice.com. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Rikhy, Trishna (2023-07-07). "Like the Brand Itself, the Best Stone Island Pieces Stand the Test of Time". Esquire. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  6. ↑ Company history Drapers Online, 2012
  7. ↑ "MY HISTORY, MY COMPANY BY CARLO RIVETTI".
  8. 1 2 Sullivan, Nick (2018-10-18). "Stone Island's Owner Explains How the Brand Blew Up in America". Esquire. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  9. ↑ "Stone Island Sells 30% Stake to Temasek". The Business of Fashion. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  10. ↑ "Moncler Takes Full Control of Stone Island". finance.yahoo.com. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  11. ↑ "Monclergroup - Stone Island: Brand Overview | Moncler Group". Monclergroup. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Nuti, Gregorio (August 5, 2021). "From Tela Stella to Kevlar, the history of the Stone Island brand". Lampoon Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  13. ↑ Flaccavento, Angelo (December 15, 2019). "'The clothes tags stated it clearly: 'Ideas from Massimo Osti.". System Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  14. ↑ Hawkins, Laura (2020-11-08). "Celebrating the fabric futurism of Stone Island". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  15. ↑ History of the iconic Stone Island Patch
  16. ↑ Lennox, Will (November 17, 2022). "Stone Island has finally embraced its hooliganism". GQ Australia. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  17. ↑ Hooligans BBC
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