MILAN — Stone Island is doubling down on its research-intensive ethos at Milan Fashion Week, unveiling a new iteration of its Prototype Research Series.
The ninth drop of the project — which started in 2015 with Series 01 to highlight innovative fabrics and treatments in their pre-industrialization stage — is among the most ambitious yet.
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Hinged on air-blown lamination, it marks the first time Stone Island is putting knitwear at the center of its R&D project, recontextualizing the category for outerwear.
The limited-edition collection comprises 100 unique pieces of the reversible cotton chenille hooded cardigan, each coming in a different shade that run the rainbow gamut and beyond — from black and white to magenta, neon green and lilac.
“Prototype Research Series 09 reflects Stone Island’s approach to research as a concrete, generative practice. By bringing knitwear into the Prototype Research program for the first time, and applying a groundbreaking air-blown lamination process, we push the limits of garment construction, converting knitwear into a new form of outerwear shaped by applied material experimentation,” said Robert Triefus, president and chief executive officer of Stone Island since 2023.
The innovative manufacturing process entails the knit layer of the garment being bonded to the high-performance HDry waterproof and breathable membrane via a 3D technique whereby the finished garments is placed on an inflatable mannequin with the membrane beneath it. By using hot air, the two layers bond, birthing slight irregularities on the knit surface in the process.
To help mark the debut of Prototype Research Series 09, Stone Island has conscripted filmmaker and multimedia artist Ken-Tonio Yamamoto to work on an installation at the brand’s headquarters in Milan. Titled “Apparatus,” it is intended to both represent and conceptualize the garment’s manufacturing process.
Scattered through the exhibition space are the industrial components employed for the creation of the Series 09 hooded cardigan, as well as the unspooled knit thread and inflatable elements used in the lamination process. The 100 final pieces are displayed in three concentric circles by color.
“Stone Island has always turned dreams into matter — bringing distant elements together in ways that feel both unexpected and quietly poetic. For this project, we wanted to give form to the material life of its making, shaping a space where industrial processes merge into a single, imagined machine, inviting the audience to step inside the world of Stone Island,” Yamamoto said.
Series 09 follows previous innovations that included the dévoré printing technique; the use of nanometric copper to explore oxidation properties in fashion; manual flocking on the Nylon Metal fabric; a thermochromic technology that employs cholesteric liquid crystals ink applied to nylon canvas fabrics; the use of automotive-specific industrial techniques to create a multiaxial linen textile, and the development of a ready-to-dye version of the Dyneema fabric bonded to a performance membrane, among others.
In 2020, Moncler acquired 70 percent of Sportswear Company SpA, owner of the Stone Island brand, before taking full control of the firm the following year.
