The giants of wear and tear, Stone Island and Daniel Arsham, have finally come together for a proper joint effort, though the pair are tackling automobiles instead of apparel.
Specifically, Stoney and Arsham have come together to put their stamp on a couple custom cars designed for rugged off-road driving.
The spicier of the pair is a heavily reworked Porsche 930 from the '80s, dubbed "Safari."
It was transformed by off-road Porsche wizard Leh Keen — Arsham is a long-time Keen admirer — into an honest-to-goodness rally car, down to the extra light pods on the hood, front and rear bumpers, and heightened suspension.
Stone Island and Arsham also reimagined a Unimog U404, one of Mercedes-Benz' miniature military and firefighting trucks rarely seen outside of Europe. The idea is that the Unimog represents the utility vehicle that trails the race cars in an actual rally.
We all know how much Daniel Arsham loves Porsche but where does Stoney come in on all this? Why, in terms of the fabrics, of course.
The Unimog, for instance, boasts an exclusive Stone Island Tela Stella bed cover — kinda ironic, given that Tela Stella (one of Stoney's first signature fabrics) was introduced in 1982 as the brand's twist on military truck tarpaulins. Full circle, baby.
Inside the cars, Stone Island references become that much clearer. Each vehicle boasts bespoke seats fitted with Stoney moleskin, dyed and treated to appear dusted with dirt, then lasered with Arsham Studio's monogram camouflage.
The Porsche is even fitted with a doorside stash bag akin to Stone Island's own carrying cases.
But the real prize are jumpsuits made of matching moleskin and Tela Stella carryall bags, set to be distributed to friends & family. Sorry folks, gotta know Arsham to get the goods.
Alongside the interior, Stone Island and Arsham also created a small run of jumpsuits (using the same techniques and moleskin material reminiscent of mechanic’s coveralls of the past) alongside Tela Stella carry-all bags. These pieces were intended exclusively for friends & family.
However, if you're in Los Angeles, you can peep the customized cars at Stoney's store, so at least you can get up close with 'em (within reason).
Crazy to think that Arsham had nothing to do with that Stone Island New Balance that dropped last year but appropriate that they finally got together. Maybe a proper apparel team-up is in the cards somewhere down the rocky road.
