Yes, Stone Island Just Made Six of the Same Jacket
Streetwear, as a culture, has a funny relationship with craft. As a scene, it is still very much so beholden to trends and their cycles, leaving the finer (or nerdier) points of garment construction to be reserved for the “heads.”
Stone Island’s first NO SEASONS collection since 1994 is a meditation on the kind of material obsession often overlooked by the masses. (No, Stoney isn't a "streetwear" label, but its clothes are synonymous with street-level cool and what is streetwear if not for everyone?) Initiated by founder Massimo Osti in 1989, Stone Island's NO SEASONS series is exactly how it sounds; clothing means to last beyond whatever may be en vogue at the time.
To the layperson, it may look like Stone Island just released six identical grey jackets. But Stone Island is defined by nuance and most importantly, material. Up close, NO SEASONS makes much more sense.
Rendered in varying interpretations of the brand’s proprietary Piombo — a prismatic grey tone — each jacket becomes an example of the brand’s textile nerdery and garment dyeing wizardry that solidifies Stoney in the eyes of the roadman as well as the “head.”
From pressure-dyed polyester to glossy coated nylon, each of these NO SEASONS jackets is shaped by a history of experimentation and a borderline obsessive devotion to refining the details. Put simply: the flex isn’t the silhouette, it’s the stuff you may not even see at first, but will definitely feel.
The original NO SEASONS project ran from 1989 to 1994. What made now the right moment to revisit this concept?
Stone Island Design Team: The modernity of Massimo Osti’s approach to design is still striking. We wanted to refer to what he had already developed while working with current material evolutions. Each NO SEASONS piece is meant to continue a conversation between convention and experimentation at the core of Stone Island.
The collection centers around a single jacket expressed through six different fabrications. Why was it important to focus on a single silhouette?
Despite sharing the same aesthetic, the jackets have completely different personalities and characteristics, achieved through compositions, finishes, dyeing processes and constructions that emphasize the specific qualities of each material.
All six jackets are presented in the same color. And why Piombo?
The initial idea of using all the same color was to focus attention on the details of the garment, and each different material. The final products are not actually the same color, but a more chromatic result achieved through the different dyeing processes that correspond to the specific fabric types we used.
We initially thought that the most iconic color of all could be black. However, we realized that choosing a Piombo tone would better emphasize the different materials and their different levels of absorption. The final product is something specific to our dyeing processes.
Each fabrication has a distinct history within Stone Island. How did the team decide which six fabrics would represent No Seasons today?
We wanted to select iconic materials for the brand that could communicate different aspects of Stone Island's material research and history. The six are Tela Resinata, Nylon Prismatico, Mussola Prismatica, Raso Gommato, Panno, Nylon Crinkle, and David.
Tela Resinata is an evolution of Tela Stella, the only material used for the first Stone Island collection in '98. The fabric is coloured in a pieced form using pigments and then garment-washed to create an uneven appearance. Nylon Prismatico evolves Mussola Prismatica into a new nylon-based version, maintaining the highly glossy appearance of the surface. The Raso Gommato, one of our most versatile materials, has been renewed with a new type of transparent matte polyurethane coating, which we then garment-dyed.
Panno evolves the military wool fabrics used across numerous past collections through the special KDf treatment, which allows for a more contemporary use with raw-cut edges. It was selected for its mixed wool and nylon composition, which gives it an authentic yet contemporary appearance. Nylon Crinkle has become an essential material in our collections due to its versatility and functionality; it’s intended to be an everyday wear piece.
Lastly we have David, which is such an iconic material. We also wanted to complement the other cotton, nylon and wool fabrications with a polyester garment, which has always posed a challenge with the complexities of its dyeing process. We also wanted to emphasize the versatility of this material by adding a detachable inner layer with the rope system, as we consider David to be an all-season material that can be used all year long.
Given the dramatically different constructions, what were the biggest challenges in achieving a consistent Piombo expression? Were there any surprises?
Although we are now highly experienced in managing polyester dyeing, it is always complex to achieve a specific color nuance with the David fabric. The pressure-dyeing process at 130°C requires specific dyes and adjustments in order to reproduce the desired tones. Piombo is also a complex color for the dyeing process, as all our dye recipes are composed of three pigments combined to create a new, unique color. If not properly controlled, the result can easily skew more red or blue than the desired tone.
Our Nylon Prismatico material has a unique color absorption: intense, full and glossy, created by the specific grooved structure of the external polyurethane layer. Due to the brushed hand of the material, the resulting color effect is unique and particularly special to us. Raso Gommato absorbs different color nuances on the external cotton satin face and on the internal polyurethane side, which takes on a deeper and more opaque color tone due to the new transparent rubber coating.
What did success look like?
We always like each garment to retain and respect its own characteristics. Although the overall aesthetic may appear consistent, there are small details and adjustments specific to each piece.
What does NO SEASONS reflect about Stone Island’s modern approach to material research and garment development?
We hope it communicates our constant research into functionality and our obsessive focus on product rather than trends. We look at function, research and good product design with obsession, never with nostalgia for the past, but always with the aim of developing toward the future.
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