Design enthusiasts have finally re-embraced the Fuorisalone and an atmosphere of creative enthusiasm that had been missing in Milan for some time. Among the projects that attract fashionistas every year during this event is the presentation of new designs by Stone Island, which for this edition has come up with an army of trench coats, suspended and illuminated in a very scenic setting.

Inside the headquarters in the Via Tortona district, the Emilia-based brand presented the fifth Prototype Research Series, the collection of unique pieces created inside Stone Island’s materials research laboratory. The garments are made with the typical Raso cotton, glued to a layer of copper, an unusual material from which to start experimenting on a garment, for an operation that preserves an almost artisanal taste, the variety of textures and the unpredictability of color. Stone Island has studied in particular the physical reactions of copper and its oxidation in different environmental conditions. It is not the first time that the brand designs its garments starting from fibers and fabrics, just as it is not the first time that an unpredictable or controllable detail becomes a possibility from which to start new experiments, in fact, this is how the brand was born, founded by Massimo Osti as a rib of C.P. Company.

If you were to visit the installation you could even meet Carlo Rivetti, President and Creative Director of the brand, usually presenting the news in person, who commented on the project as follows:

“This study began in 2019 with the intention of it being shown at the Milan Design Week in April 2020, which was later cancelled. When the garments were returned to us in spring 2021, their oxidized appearance was magnificent but the adhesive between the non-woven fabric and the cotton satin was unpredictably “gone,” “eaten” by oxidation. The result did not reach the target of resistance and solidity we have. I often tell of the “mistakes” that come up when daring to go beyond the known, the tested, the conventional. This is the unfiltered story of an unfinished research process, an enrichment of the company’s experience and culture. Each step has taught us important things which will be important for the future, regardless of the goal achieved.”