A culture of research, experimentation, function and use are the matrixes that have always defined Stone Island: the sportswear brand established in 1982, designed to become a symbol of extreme research on fibres and textiles, applied to an innovative design. Season after season, it is through the study of form and the “manipulation” of the matter that Stone Island has found its own language with the aim of establishing new boundaries in the world of garment making. The study of uniforms and of work wear, its evolution according to new requirements of use, has become Stone Island’s observation post for defining a project in which the clothing item’s function is never just aesthetic. An ongoing investigation, thorough and without frontiers, on the processing and ennobling of fibres and textiles, leading to discover materials and production techniques never used before in the clothing industry. Jackets constructed in nylon monofilament, deriving from the water filtering technology. Highly reflective or thermo-sensitive fabrics, changing colour with the variation of temperature. Featherweight polyester cloth vacuum- coated with a 100% stainless steel film used in aviation technology to protect the on-board computers. Non-woven materials, Kevlar® and polyester felt, rhomboidal nets in polyester used in the construction industry and coated in polyurethane. These are some examples of materials conceived by Stone Island philosophy. Stone Island’s strength is also based on the unique ability to intervene on the finished item, through the continuous tests on dyeing and treatments carried out in the Sportswear Company’s laboratory of colour. A department able to combine advanced technology, experience and human capacity and that has developed more than 60,000 different recipes of dyes throughout the years. All the accumulated knowledge and experience, an inalienable heritage, on which great part of Stone Island’s know-how is based, is kept in the historical archive that collects the trial tests, and the recipes for textile dyeing and handling that have been developed by all those people who have worked on this project with passion.
