Get to Know Stone Island, Supreme's Latest Collaborator

The Supreme x Stone Islandcollaboration is receiving a lot of buzz this season—and for good reason, too. It’s a project that unites two major cult brands, and their respective philosophies, for a collection that is simultaneously street and technical. And with only one more day until its official release, we thought it’d be appropriate to share some background on the partnership—specifically the history of Stone Island.

From its origins and its specializations to its CEO and its celebrity fan base, we present everything you need to know about the Italian brand. If you’re looking to cop pieces from the collection tomorrow, this is a definite must-read. After all, an informed consumer is the best consumer.

Though its following isn’t as widespread or extreme as Supreme’s, the Italian brand has actually been around much longer than its latest streetwear collaborator. Founded in the early ‘80s in the province of Modena, Stone Island was originally intended as a diffuse line of C.P. Company. It was the brainchild of Massimo Osti, an intellectual and art director who had a deep interest in uniforms and their utilitarian components.

During the 1970s, Osti conducted extensive research on workwear garments—studying everything from construction to materials to silhouettes. When he launched the brand in 1982, the company became somewhat of a research center that focused on unique dyeing methods and fabric treatments. At the beginning stages, Osti and his team were experimenting with thick truck tarpaulin material, which was treated with resin; however the fabric was deemed too stiff for comfort, so it was washed for an extended period of time with pumice stones—resulting in a weathered look often associated with authentic workwear.

The durability and aesthetic appeal was so convincing that the team decided to make seven designs with this fabric, dubbed Tela Stella (shown above). After seeing the potential of their creation, they then needed to come up with a brand name. It had to be classic and, above all, strong; so they looked to Joseph Conrad novels and discovered two commonly used words: stone and island. The name perfectly reflected the brand’s aesthetic, as the team initially used sea elements for its treatments. The signature compass badge, which has been sewn onto sleeves since Stone Island’s first collection, also nods to the maritime name as it evokes the detailing of a naval military uniform.

The look was right and the functionality was on point. Over three decades later, the brand hasn’t abandoned its commitment to durability, innovation, and incredible-looking threads.

In 2008, Carlo Rivetti took over as Stone Island’s creative director, replacing Paul Harvey. As the founder of C.P. Company back in 1975, he brought a lot of expertise to the brand, which he was a shareholder for since 1983. But even before then, Rivetti had a long history with fashion as his family had worked in the industry for decades.

During the 19th century, Rivetti’s grandfather Giuseppe Rivetti began selling cows to start his own wool factory. The company remained exclusively within the family until 1920s, when members decided to purchase and merge their firm with the GFT group. Around the 1950s, Rivetti’s father, Silvio, convinced his brothers to give up their shares in the wool factories in order to buy out GFT. They were successful and introduced many Italians to a technique that was mostly unheard of: garments created on theoretical measurements—or in layman’s terms, sizes. Before then, most clothing had to be tailored, but this new technique allowed the brand to dress thousands of Italians without ever having to see them.

And despite a few bumps in the road, including the oil crisis of 1973, the business endured and grew. In 1975, Rivetti joined GFT with a single mission: to start a sportswear company. He, too, was obsessed with research and innovation and was drawn to Osti’s brand, now known as Stone Island.

He eventually became part owner of the company, along with Osti and Trabaldo Togna. But in 1983, due to creative differences, Rivetti bought 50 percent of the company, followed by 100 percent soon after.

In 1993, he and his sister Cristina decided to fully acquire GFT, and renamed it Sportswear Company. It was a major move for Rivetti, who, till this day, believes sportswear and formalwear are the future of clothing.

This new role allowed him to immerse himself in fabric experimentation and oversee the work of Stone Island’s creative director Harvey. But in 2008, when he took over as Harvey’s replacement, Rivetti decided that the days of Stone Island having only one designer were over; so he assembled a team to evolve the brand’s identity without discarding its emphasis on technical designs.

Ever since its inception, Stone Island has been at the forefront of innovative fabric treatments. The brand not only wants its gear to look good, but also combat harsh weather conditions and typical wear-and-tear. Its first collection of Tela Stella tarpaulin jackets was the first step in a long journey of fiber and textile research, which would be applied to garment designs suitable for contemporary tastes.

“I think our final customer is a sort of club or association. We recognize each other and we are proud to wear a Stone Island piece,” Rivetti told Hypbeast during a tour of the brand’s archives. “Every single pieces that go out from my company I’m proud of. Every single piece is something special […] Every single pieces is a part of our story.”

From nylon monofilament and thermo-sensitive fabrics to Disruptive Pattern Material and glow-in-the-dark tech jackets, Stone Island has solidified a reputation for next-level threads. Its fusion of functionality and style is what really elevates Stone Island above other technical brands: The designs are not only practical, but they’re also very considered when it comes to aesthetics. Whether among outerwear, sweaters, trousers, or jeans, the brand consistently introduces prints and materials that never fail to blow our minds.

Supreme isn’t the only brand to get the Stone Island treatment.

In addition to its mainline and its Shadow Project sub-line, Stone Island has released collections with some of the biggest names in the industry—most of which were footwear collaborations. In 2009, it teamed up with adidas Originals to create a pair tech-heavy Sambas. A couple years later, it joined forces with Diemme Roccia for an upgraded version of the popular Vet boot, followed by a new iteration of Diemme’s military boot featuring premium materials and a Vibram ripple sole. In 2013, New Balance released a Stone Island 577 sneaker with a special polyurethane coating and reflective detailing.

We know Supreme has an extensive list of collaborations under its belt. Over the past several years it has linked up with heavyweights like Levi’s, The North Face, Nike, Vans, and Bape—brands that appealed to Supreme founder James Jebbia in one way or another, be it for their aesthetics, philosophies, or unique production methods. But when it came to Stone Island, Jebbia was mostly intrigued by its innovation.

In an interview with i-D magazine last year, Jebbia discussed the initial partnership with Stone Island for Fall/Winter 2014. He said he recognized the brand’s strong following, but was mostly interested in its long history of experimental techniques.

“I know what Stone Island means to a lot of people in England and Europe," Jebbia told i-D. “We asked friends, who are real Stone Island fans who said, 'You gotta do this because it's really obscure', but we don't really care about that, we just wanted to keep the essence of Stone Island and make something our customers would appreciate."

Once the partnership was set in stone, Jebbia worked closely with Rivetti to ensure each brand’s DNA was preserved and represented. The final product perfectly fused the distinct aesthetics among a range of staples like hoodies, sweatshirts, joggers, and headwear. Clearly, the joint effort was so successful, the two brands couldn’t help but reunite. If we’re lucky, the Spring/Summer 2015 collaboration might not be the last.

As we’ve so many times before, the energy a collaboration provides is often quite beneficial to all participating brands. Supreme and Stone Island each have a dedicated fan base that is pretty distinct from the other. Supreme is essentially worshipped among the street/skateboarding youth culture of America, while Stone Island has become insanely popular among European football fans. Though these subcultures are very different, they have several similarities in spirit: the most obvious is their shared fearlessness.

Supreme has never been afraid to push the boundaries, whether through design, limited production, or guerrilla marketing. The same can be said for Stone Island, which has dedicated 30-plus years to delivering new fabrics and materials to the industry. That quality of rebelliousness is, unfortunately, fairly uncommon nowadays. Many times brands are comfortable borrowing elements from previous designs without ever pushing themselves toward the unconventional. However, this partnership involves two of the most unique and forward-thinking entities within today’s fashion realm, and it has exposed consumers to styles they would have otherwise not given a chance to.

Italian sportswear and NYC streetwear seem to be worlds apart, but thanks to a shared appreciation for the unorthodox and experimental, those genres have been able to come together for a dope collection of clothes.