Stone Island

Last updated
Stone Island
Company type Società per azioni
Industry Fashion
Founded1982;42 years ago (1982) in Ravarino, Italy
Founder Massimo Osti
HeadquartersRavarino, Italy
Key people
Robert Triefus (CEO)
Revenue €401 million (2022) [1]
Parent Moncler
Website Stone 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 overlaid atop a button-on cloth badge with green, yellow, and black detailing.

Contents

Founded in 1982 by Massimo Osti, the brand became popular 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 casuals, 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 complement 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 in 1993 to Italian businessman Carlo Rivetti, who combined the label with C.P. Company Sportswear Company SpA. [7] Stone Island rapidly became popular 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 has collaborated with several design companies such as Supreme, Dior, Nike, Adidas, and New Balance, among others. [12]

Brand identity

Stone Island's yellow-green Compass Badge, 2013 Stone Island.jpg
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, affixed 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, but from around the year 2000 onwards they became black edged.

Subculture

Stone Island was initially popular with "wealthy middle-class teens" in Italy, but  by the mid-1980s, the brand had gained popularity among the football casual subculture in the United Kingdom. [12] [17] As a result, the brand became associated with football hooliganism, and some venues and pubs banned customers who wore the brand. [18] The brand's association with football hooliganism was reinforced by Stone Island itself who incorporated the material Kevlar into jackets as Kevlar is bulletproof and offered protection against knives during violent clashes. The brand was brought into the mainstream by several films released in the early 2000s, including The Football Factory and Green Street , which featured prominent characters wearing the brand. [19]

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

Related Research Articles

The casual subculture is a subset of football culture that is characterised by the wearing of expensive designer clothing and hooliganism. Many participants dislike the term 'casuals', preferring the term ‘dresser’, with regional variations including Perry boys, trendies, and scallies.

Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk, skateboarding, 1980s nostalgia, and Japanese street fashion. Later, haute couture became an influence, and was in turn influenced by streetwear. Streetwear centers on comfortable clothing and accessories such as jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, and sneakers. Brands may create exclusivity through artificial scarcity; enthusiasts follow particular brands and try to obtain limited edition releases, including via proxy purchases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salomon Group</span> French sports equipment manufacturing company

Salomon SAS is a French sports equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Annecy, France. It was founded in 1947 by François Salomon in the heart of the French Alps and is a major brand in outdoor sports equipment. Salomon is owned by Finnish retail conglomerate Amer Sports, along with Wilson, Atomic, Precor, and Arc'teryx, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arc'teryx</span> Canadian outdoor clothing company

Arc'teryx is a Canadian apparel company specializing in outdoor apparel and equipment headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. It focuses on technical apparel for mountaineering and Alpine sports, including related accessories. The company's name and logo reference the Archaeopteryx, the transitional fossil of early dinosaurs to modern dinosaurs (birds). Arc'teryx is known for its waterproof Gore-Tex shell jackets, knitwear, and down parkas.

Pal Zileri is an Italian luxury menswear brand owned by the sovereign wealth fund of the Qatari royal family. Pal Zileri is part of Forall Confezioni SpA. The brand was founded in Quinto Vicentino and is now headquartered in Milan. The brand is distributed via monobrand stores and 500 multibrand retailers worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tod's</span> Italian luxury fashion house

Tod's S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion house specialized in footwear, apparel, and related accessories headquartered in Marche, Italy. Its core branding includes an oval nameplate and roaring lion, with signature brown and orange packaging. The company is an influencer in the Sprezzatura fashion movement. Its highest-selling products are pebble-sole “Gommino” driving shoes, leather (suede) loafers, boots, sneakers, and handbags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Browne</span> American fashion designer

Thom Browne is an American fashion designer. He is the founder and head of design for Thom Browne, a luxury fashion brand based in New York City. Browne debuted his womenswear collection in 2014.

Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design, alongside France and the United Kingdom. Fashion has always been an important part of the country's cultural life and society, and Italians are well known for their attention to dress; la bella figura, or good appearance, retains its traditional importance.

Massimo Osti (1944–2005) was an Italian garment engineer and fashion designer, most famous as the founder of the apparel brands Stone Island and C.P. Company. Osti's products were a mix of his own innovations and design ideas he got from studying military clothing, work-wear, and sportswear.

Moncler S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion brand specialized in ready-to-wear outerwear headquartered in Milan, Italy. Since its start as a down jacket boutique, Moncler has expanded to design vests, raincoats, windbreakers, knitwear, leather goods, footwear, fragrance, and related accessories. Its core branding includes the rooster (cockerel), "M" monogram, felt appliqué badge, crossed skis and cartoon duck mascot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Raeburn (designer)</span> British fashion designer (born 1982)

Christopher Raeburn (born 13 August 1982), is a British fashion designer known for reworking surplus fabrics and garments to create menswear, womenswear and accessories.

Made in Italy is a merchandise mark indicating that a product is all planned, manufactured and packed in Italy, especially concerning the design, fashion, food, manufacturing, craftsmanship, and engineering industries.

Napapijri is a clothing brand founded in 1987 in Aosta, Italy. The brand initially gained recognition as a maker of travel bags, utilising waxed cotton canvas borrowed from military field tents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athleisure</span> Fashion trend featuring clothing designed for athletic activities

Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. The word is a portmanteau combining the words 'athletic' and 'leisure'. Athleisure outfits can include tracksuits, sports jackets, hoodies, yoga pants, tights, sneakers, flats, Birkenstocks, uggs, leggings and shorts that look like athletic wear or pair well with it. Characterized as "fashionable, dressed-up sweats and exercise clothing," athleisure grew during the mid-2010s, from the popularity of yoga pants that emerged throughout the mid to late 2000s. The athleisure trend entails casual clothing options that give North American women the option to incorporate athletic clothing as part of their everyday attire, irrespective of their actual engagement in physical activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.P. Company</span> Italian apparel brand

C.P. Company is an Italian apparel brand founded in 1971 by designer Massimo Osti. Initially called Chester Perry by the suggestion of his fashion entrepreneur friend Corrado Zannoni, its name was changed in 1978 following a lawsuit by Chester Barrie and Fred Perry, for the use of their first name and surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remo Ruffini (businessman)</span> Italian businessman (born 1961)

Remo Ruffini is an Italian billionaire businessman, the chairman and CEO of the fashion company Moncler, and controls Double R Srl.

Matthew M. "Dada" Williams is an American designer, creative, and entrepreneur. The co-founder of the fashion brand 1017 ALYX 9SM, he was creative director of Givenchy women's and men's collections from June 2020 to January 1, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion in Nigeria</span>

The fashion industry in Nigeria plays an important cultural role and contributes significantly to the country's economy. Clothing incorporates a variety of colours, fabrics, and embellishments. Many of the component cultures of Nigeria wear styles that are characteristic of their tribal society and customs. Nigeria produces fashionable textiles and finished garments and has designers who have achieved international recognition.

Palm Angels is an Italian luxury fashion label founded in 2015 by Italian art director and photographer, Francesco Ragazzi who is also the former artistic director of Moncler. Palm Angels is part of the New Guards Group and has collaborated with brands such as Moncler Genius, Playboi Carti, BBC Ice Cream, Under Armour & Clarks.

Massimo Alba is an Italian menswear designer and head of his eponymous casual luxury brand, which is entirely made in Italy. The company operates six monobrand stores: Milan, Rome, Courmayeur, Sestri Levante, Forte dei Marmi and Puntaldia.

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. ↑ Thornton, Phil (2003). Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion - The Story of a Terrace Cult. Milo Books. p. 163. ISBN   978-1903854143.
  18. ↑ "Pub-goers facing 'Burberry' ban". 2004-08-20. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  19. ↑ Zamet, Isaac (2024-02-23). "Royal rabble? Cassius Taylor signs up as ambassador for Stone Island, designer of famous footy hooligan clobber". Tatler. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.