Fashion house Stone Island is hosting a remarkable archival exhibition in Seoul, during the second Frieze Seoul event. This expansive display, known as “Selected Works_Seoul‘982-‘023: The Stone Island Archive,” marks the brand’s grandest exhibition in Asia to date, showcasing over 70 signature Stone Island articles, including those from its inaugural Spring Summer Collection in 1982.
The exhibition, which runs from the 5th to the 9th of September, offers a profound look at more than forty years of persistent innovation and exploration in product design. It brings special attention to distinct collections such as the Pure Metal Shell jackets and the Prototype Research_Series, alongside the brand’s ongoing trials with Ice Jackets and reflective materials.
To further enhance the experience, the exhibition also featured two notable events: a dialogue with Stone Island’s chairman, Carlo Rivetti, on the 5th of September, followed by an archivist event headed by renowned collector Archie Maher on the 6th of September.
A heritage steeped in research, innovation, and functionality forms the cornerstone of Stone Island; the brand that emerged in 1982 and is now synonymous with extreme exploration in fibers and textiles integrated with pioneering design. Every creation from Stone Island stems from a harmonious fusion between experimentation and practicality, grounded in detailed fabric analysis and a focus on functionality.
The in-depth analysis of uniforms and workwear, and their evolution to meet the changing demands of their usage, serves as a critical resource for Stone Island, guiding them in crafting a collection where the aesthetic appeal of each garment is matched by its utility.
This relentless journey into the transformative and enriching properties of fibers and fabrics, coupled with the distinctive approach to treating finished garments through continuous dyeing experiments, has led to the invention of materials and manufacturing techniques that were hitherto unexplored in the fashion sector. Such persistent endeavors have enabled Stone Island to formulate over 60,000 distinct dye formulas over the years.