Go Inside the Enigmatic Stone Island in this Oki-Ni Interview

CEO Carlo Rivetti talks innovation and industrial design at Stone Island.

Image via Oki-Ni

Stone Island is one of those OG labels that's had some sort of presence in guys' wardrobes since the brand's inception back in the early 80s. The label's CEO, Carlo Rivetti, has made the label as much about technical design and fabric experimentation, as it is about appealing apparel. In an interview with UK-based shop Oki-Ni, Rivetti explains what goes into making the Italian brand a simultaneous feat of industrial design and smartly constructed clothing.

Rivetti notes that Stone Island's focal point has always been research. "Since the very beginning, extreme levels of fiber and textile research have been applied to our innovative designs," says Rivetti. It's what has helped spawn pieces like the "Ice Jacket" (which is thermo-reactive) and the "Reflective Jacket," a piece composed from "microspheres of glass."

The aforementioned products are the real-world results of R&D done in Stone Island's labs. It's these labs that have helped to create not just new concepts, but revolutionize traditional processes, like garment dyeing. According to Rivetti, the brand has "developed more than 60,000 different dye recipes" since its beginning. With attention to details at the fore, Rivetti admits that a final product may take years before it inevitably shows up in a collection.

The technical aspects are what prompt fans to draw comparisons between Stone Island and the field of industrial design. Discussing this shared design relationship, Rivetti says,

"The lab tests we perform in order to create most of our garments do bring us closer to industrial design than clothing. Our garments are conceived as design objects, to which functionality and research are fundamental. Let’s say that we look to style in a lateral way, driven by different stimulus. We are function driven as well as aesthetically driven."

But even though Stone Island has had some iconic textiles and dyes pop up across the label's 33-year history, Rivetti admits that even they don't get it right all the time. Time and testing in the lab is the ultimate creator of quality and successful concepts.

"Once we tested garment dyeing on a brand new material. We put the jacket in the dyeing machine and when the treatment finished, what we found inside was more similar to a tennis ball than a jacket."

The brand's well-crafted sportswear has made it a cult brand among European soccer hooligans and fashion heads alike. It's culled enough fans to even inspire an Instagram account dedicated to showing attractive girls repping the label. Besides, if they're good enough to warrant a string of collabs with Supreme, they're definitely worth a second look. 

Read the full interview over at Oki-Ni.

 

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