Stone Island's NYC Pop-Up Will Also Include an Exhibition of Never-Before-Seen Pieces

Stone Island has been killing the technical garment game since the 1980s, consistently delivering innovative designs and fabrics among its collection of dope outerwear.

Today, the Italian brand has opened the doors to its retrospective exhibit, "Reflective Research '992—'015," which highlights 23 years of experimentation with reflective materials. The event will showcase various pieces that have utilized a special resin with thousands of glass microspheres. Some of the garments were included in past collections, while some were never put into production; so if you’re a fan of the brand, it’s a definite must-see.

The exhibit's starting year, 1992, isn't unintentional; the year symbolizes a key development in the brand's history. "For us one of the most important milestones shown in this collection is our ability to garment-dye man-made fabrics," Stone Island CEO, Creative Director, and Owner Carlo Rivetti explained to Complex. Stone Island began in 1982, and until the '90s, the brand was only able to dye natural materials like cottons or flax. By 1992, technology and years of pracitical research allowed Stone Island to dye synthetic fabrics like nylon, and then polyester. Thanks to that research, Stone Island can dye pretty much any fabric. "The future is interesting," said Rivetti. "It gives us the opportunity to try new things." Considering the brand's noted color and fabric experimentation, the exhibit is a look at the past—with an eye forward at the innovations to come.

While New Yorkers are excited for the retrospective, it's an interesting choice for Stone Island to set up an exhibit in NYC. But according Rivetti, the choice was incredibly simple. "I'm interested in telling the story of Stone Island," Rivetti told Complex. "I think in the U.S., nobody really knows our history. The most important thing is to get emotion. The most important part is the emotional connection to our history and our work—not the business. New York is very close to Italian history, and so it makes sense for and Italian brand to come to this city."

But that’s not all. In addition to the exhibit, Stone Island has also set up a pop-up shop that will offer designs from its Fall/Winter 2015 collection, just in time for the season’s brutal chill.

The event will take place at 41 Greene St. in SoHo, and will conclude on Nov. 15. However, the end of the exhibit doesn't mean Stone Island is leaving New York for good. The location will reappear as a Stone Island brick-and-mortar, opening sometime around February 2016 with the Spring/Summer 2016 collection.