Stone Island

Wikipedia says designer Massimo Osti founded Stone Island in 1982 in Ravarino, Italy. It says the first collection was seven outerwear pieces made from a tarpaulin fabric, later named Tela Stella, given an enzyme stone wash. Wikipedia attributes the name to Joseph Conrad's novels, in which it says the words stone and island appear most often; we found this in one source only.

Wikipedia says Osti left the company at the end of 1995.

Per Wikipedia, Osti sold 50% to Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT) in 1983 and the remaining half in 1991, and in 1993 GFT sold the company to Carlo Rivetti, who combined it with C.P. Company as Sportswear Company SpA. Wikipedia also says Temasek Holdings bought a 30% stake in 2017, valued at EUR 345 million.

Business of Fashion reported that Moncler announced it would acquire Stone Island in a deal valuing the brand at EUR 1.15 billion (about USD 1.4 billion). The Industry reported that Moncler would buy just over 50% from Carlo Rivetti and a further 19.9% from other Rivetti family members, then aimed to buy the remaining 30% held by Temasek. It also reported that Moncler's Remo Ruffini said the two brands would remain independent, and that Rivetti was set to join Moncler's board. Wikipedia gives 31 March 2021 as the completion date; we did not find a second source for that date.

Wikipedia describes the aesthetic as sportswear and nautical influences with military-inspired details and a functional look. BSTN describes the removable compass patch as showing a wind rose and says it symbolises love for the oceans and a commitment to constant research; it gives no date for when the badge was introduced. Wikipedia places the compass design on the left side of a garment.

Wikipedia dates Raso Gommato to 1983, thermosensitive fabric and rubber wool to 1987, and reflective fabric to 1991. We did not find a second source for these dates, so treat them as unconfirmed.

Wikipedia lists collaborations with Adidas, New Balance, Supreme, Nike (NikeLab), Porter, Persol and, in 2024, Dior.

Highsnobiety says that as the 1980s turned into the 1990s, labels including Burberry, Aquascutum, Prada, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Stone Island and C.P. Company came to dominate the terraces, a shift it describes as more practicality than style decision.

Highsnobiety, citing Anthony Teasdale writing in Maxim, places a turning point in 1992 around the European Championships in Sweden, when England fans looted a Stockholm store that stocked Stone Island. It says it is hard to pin down exactly when the shift happened, and that it is not clear why the brand became the hooligan staple; it offers the visible compass branding as a likely explanation.

We could not open the brand's own site, so we cannot say how it sells directly. Retailers we checked include END. (Canada) and Breuninger (Netherlands).

END. Canada listed a Patch Logo T-shirt at CA$275, a Garment Dyed Hoodie at CA$560 (the Sage colour on sale at CA$364), a Garment Dyed Crew Neck Sweatshirt at CA$475 (Mustard on sale at CA$333) and a Patch Logo Polo at CA$309 to CA$325. Breuninger Netherlands listed T-shirts from EUR 150, piqué polos from EUR 180 and a GHOST Bomber jacket at EUR 895. Those pages showed no date, so treat the prices as checked October 2026. They are in different currencies, so they are not a like-for-like comparison.

StockX's retail price field for the black 2SC18 polo (SS23 season) showed $218, with no currency named. An MR PORTER exclusive collection was reported in October 2019 to retail between $390 and $2,510, with the currency shown only as a dollar sign.

Highsnobiety's 2017 guide says eBay is full of fake Stone Island jackets, that Facebook Marketplace is full of fakes, and that counterfeit sites sell items 65 percent off the retail price. It said a new jacket advertised at GBP 100 was not going to be real, since new jackets started at GBP 350 or more; that figure is from 2017 and is probably out of date.

The guide says all garments produced from SS14 onwards use Certilogo technology to verify authenticity, and says newer labels carry a scannable QR code. It does not say every garment has one.