Transporting the fashion pack to the northmost quarter of Milan for its monumental Milan Fashion Week Men’s debut, Stone Island AW24 was a uniform ode to the underground. Presenting its latest textile innovations upon a caged, three-storey scaffolding structure inside a vast warehouse space known as La Cattedrale, it was a stunning streetwear-inspired spectacle that paid homage to the label’s subcultural ties. Set to a strident industrial techno track, 54 models stood stock still inside the mammoth contraption, each sporting one of 10 ensembles displayed in multiples, exemplifying the label’s undeniable expertise when it comes to uniform.
The Italian outerwear giant – which has been lauded for its first-rate outerwear in particular, since it was founded in 1982 by C.P. Company’s Massimo Osti – had never staged a show in the cobblestoned city before Friday. Calling it The Compass Inside – a nod to the brand’s distinctive logo which depicts the arms of a magnetic compass – the compass motif, of course, appeared patched onto the upper arms of coats and jackets, of which there were both new, AW24 items, as well as archival pieces. Among them, Metal Mesh PVD Nanotechnology Down Jackets appeared almost as if they were made of liquid, military style wool jackets (part of the Stone Island Ghost collection) reimagined brand classics, and see-through parkas signified the continual experimental research that has anchored the brand for 42 years.
The Compass Inside was also the name given to a new campaign from the brand, which was dutifully unveiled the day of the show, but featured Stone Island’s SS24 offering. Modelling the versatile collection, 16 Stone Island brand ambassadors and pop cultural icons from actor Jason Statham to British rapper Dave and even tennis player Henry Searle, amongst others (most of whom, with the exception of The Expendables actor, made an appearance at the show this week) took part.
Both the show and the campaign served to cement Stone Island as “an outfitter for inner worlds, for those who follow their own path”, according to a booming manifesto read at the start of the show, while also heralding a fresh chapter for the brand which was bought by Moncler in 2020 and is now led by CEO Robert Triefus who joined from Gucci in June 2023.
Photography courtesy of Stone Island.
