Stone Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stone Island is a make of fashion clothing. The label was set up by Italian designer Massimo Osti in 1982 as a secondary line or diffusion collection of his main CP Company label. The brand was remarkable for specialising in surface treatment of fabrics and dyeing techniques.
A feature of a Stone Island garment is the compass patch that buttons onto the upper sleeve of the left arm. Originally the patches were green edged, badges from around the year 2000 featured a white compass and then in later years the patches became black edged.
[edit] Association with football fans
The finished articles were hard-wearing and of a high quality, and for that reason became a favourite with terrace casuals in the United Kingdom.
The compass sleeve patch is removable, and wearers of SI have been known to be asked to remove it when entering pubs and bars on matchdays as it is seen to be, in the main, worn by those who seek to cause unrest.
However, as with other expensive designer labels such as Burberry and Aquascutum, Stone Island has become more mainstream, particularly amongst those known as chavs in the UK. The underlying reason for this is the availability of designer labels on eBay, which are frequently fake, along with the popularity of films such as The Football Factory, Green Street, and the musician The Streets, following a retro casual style.
Nevertheless, it has not yet been totally shunned by football fans and is still seen in large quantities at matches, but for how long remains to be seen. In the last five years, it has certainly been worn more by fans who do not actually intend to cause the level of disturbance as the hardcore hooligan, and indeed, is worn less by those who do.
[edit] Links
- stoneisland.com Stone Island Homepage
- stoneisland.co.uk Beak street flagship store
