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Stone Island’s first-ever fashion show was heavy on the drama, both planned and unintended.
The Italian outerwear label brought the Milan Fashion Week crowd north of the city to a warehouse space. Fifty-four models donning one of 10 looks were placed across three storeys, concealed by darkness until laser lights went up, revealing the collection. Industrial techno set the mood — all engines go until a premature curtain fall covered the entire spectacle again in darkness, leaving showgoers confused.
The night was a success anyway, CEO Robert Triefus said post-show.
“We had a gremlin,” he said, a technical fault. The curtain came down prematurely, forcing a swift response in real-time. “Sometimes life throws up these things. The finale wasn’t as it was planned. It was improvised.” Luckily, the correct finale was filmed at rehearsals to be shared across platforms tomorrow, he added.
Stone Island has been working on tonight’s spectacle for months after Triefus met with Carlo Capasa, president of Camera della Moda Italiana, some months ago to float the idea. Behind the scenes prior to the show, men in hard hats clipped the models to the warehouse’s metal scaffolding structure, concealing carabiners and metal rope under their coats and jackets. Teams tested the lights and sound while Triefus, new CMO Oliver Cooke and Moncler Group scion Romeo Ruffini looked on. (Romeo reportedly encouraged his father, Moncler Group founder Remo Ruffini, to approach Stone Island for acquisition after seeing founder Carlo Rivetti speak at a conference. Moncler completed the acquisition of Stone Island in 2021, and Romeo now works across the brand.)
Moncler may be rubbing off on the label. Friday’s spectacle was reminiscent of Moncler’s 70th-anniversary Genius exhibition in London for AW23, which featured a similar dramatic, static display. The show is part of a trifecta of marketing initiatives, including a new campaign and manifesto, released on Friday, which underline a new era for the 42-year-old Italian outerwear label under Triefus, who joined from Gucci in June. The aim? To take the label from an insidery “if-you-know-you-know” darling to a global powerhouse with a focus on innovation and elevated design.
The biggest challenge in producing the show, aside from the aforementioned curtain issue, has been making sure it still felt like Stone Island rather than a traditional luxury fashion runway. “We think that the location, the industrial sense and ambience, the way that the set has been developed, the music and lighting will bring the collection to life in a way that is truly in line with the values of the product,” Triefus says.
Building pre-show buzz
The pre-show campaign, which Triefus says has already hit high engagement on Instagram, featured 16 global Stone Island brand ambassadors wearing pieces from the new collection, including actor Jason Statham, producer and musician Dave, choreographer Wayne McGregor, tennis player Henry Searle, rapper Tricky and architect Heidulf Gerngross (most of them, minus Statham, were at the show). “We only worked with friends of the house,” Cooke says. “Jason hasn’t done a campaign since before Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” a 1998 Statham film.
“I think what is interesting about this brand is it’s incredibly democratic, it’s incredibly inclusive, and consequently, we have the ability to connect with a multitude of different segments,” says Triefus. The campaign reaction gave the label confidence ahead of the show.
Success will be measured by social engagement, Triefus says and, “of course”, the reaction to the collection. The 10 looks on show, from neutral sheepskin jackets to burgundy liquid shine puffers, were carefully selected to reflect the brand’s three lines: luxury line Ghost; classic streetwear line Stellina and the youthful Marina collection, inspired by life at sea. Hero pieces included an archival 1999 jacket, which was made using metal and marketed to the growing cohort of people wary of radiation from microwaves — a fashion time capsule.
The team had to figure out a way to recreate the heavy-duty jacket for the show, using a mesh made of metal fibre with the same properties but in a much lighter format, says design studio director Silvio Rivetti, son of founder Carlo, who recently took over some duties from his father. Displaying an archival look alongside new pieces was intended, he and Triefus agree, to show the consistent vision the brand has had through the ages.
Post-show, the plan is for Stone Island to remain “highly visible”, Triefus says. First, it’ll release a documentary by filmmaker Jeremy Elkin in February, based on the “follow the compass within” manifesto and spotlighting members of the Stone Island community across the world, famous or otherwise. Then, Stone Island will head to Frieze LA as part of its long-term partnership with the art fair.
“Robert and our new team members are bringing a new energy and emphasis to the brand,” Rivetti says. “I’m keen to see the reaction, and I’m confident that with the show, we can spread the culture.”
Correction: Silvio Rivetti’s title is design studio director, not creative director as previously reported.
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