SHADOW PROJECT
Stone Island's 'Shadow Project' began as a discourse between Sportswear Company owner and creative director Carlo Rivetti and the design team of Michaela Sachenbacher and Errolson Hugh, also known as ACRONYM®. A platform for exploration, the Shadow project rapidly evolved into a system based program for a new generation of urban masculine apparel.
With both Stone Island’s incredible historical archive, and its unparalleled forward development resources as a starting point, ACRONYM® sought to conceive a project according to their strong technical and performance based roots . The result is a unique and unprecedented fusion. A fresh and intelligent new light cast upon the timeless interplay of form and function. Calling the project SHADOW underlines the intimate relationship and interaction between this work and the full body of the STONE ISLAND collection.
THE GRID
Above and beyond mere seasonal collections, Stone Island Shadow is primarily a system based upon the idea of clothing as a man’s interface with, or enabler within, his environment. The PERFORMANCE GRID is the organizational framework upon which this idea is built.
Proven functional principals from both military and active sportswear allow the individual items in the collection to work both alone and, most effectively, synergistically together. The grid itself is independent of seasonal and aesthetic change. This means that there is functional continuity between all Shadow collections and items, regardless of when they were produced and/or purchased. Each item is an investment in, and an extension of, its owner’s personal system.
The grid is comprised of 4 categories: PROOF, AUGMENT, RESIST, and SKIN.
PROOF
_Purpose: Total weather protection
_Fabrics: Hermetic properties
_Garments: Hardshell
_Example: Gore-Tex® Proshell Shield Jacket
AUGMENT
_Purpose: User customisable enhancements
_Fabrics: Enhanced properties
_Garments: Modular
_Example: Modular Insulator Vest
RESIST
_Purpose: Wide-spectrum use
_Fabrics: Resistant properties
_Garments: Lightshell and Softshell
_Example: Raso-R Lightshell Blazer with Windstopper®
SKIN
_Purpose: Contact layer
_Fabrics: Comfort properties
_Garments: Non-shell
_Example: Long sleeve Interlock T-shirt
THE COLLECTION
The catalyst behind the first Stone Island Shadow proposal was the idea of INTERSTITIAL RESTART. Seeking a personal way to embody the deep research of the Stone Island world, the designers sought to reinvent from the inside out:
‘Restart has to do with the soul and not just the surface of the brand. Therefore, how can we manifest these changes internally -as an integral part of each garment? How can we make this idea indivisible from the product? Not surface design... New features and functions that are known only to the wearer of the garment, and manifested in the outside world only as (initially as) changes in the wearer’s behaviour and attitudes: in the new ways in which they interact with the world.
Calm exterior / Radical interior
Quiet surface / Dynamic depth’
Notebook excerpt. 14.07.07 Tokyo.
This central theme manifests itself in the construction, fabrication, and colours or each and every Stone Island Shadow garment. The interplay of form and function, interior and exterior, appearance and substance, restraint and saturation, result in styles that play with perception and are, quite literally, more than meet the eye.
COLORS
The attitude of INTERSTICIAL RESTART is expressed in the colors of the ‘008/’009 collection trough combination. The quiet overall appearance of the MAIN COLOR is juxtaposed with the unexpected intensity of the SECONDARY COLOR.
FABRICS
The attitude of the INTRRSTITIAL RESTART is also expressed in the fabrics of the ‘008/’009 collection through combination. The quiet overall appearance of the MAIN FABRIC is juxtaposed with the unexpected incident of the SECONDARY FABRIC.
FABRIC TECHNOLOGY
Stone Island Shadow fabrics are carefully chosen for their balance of performance technologies and the unique aesthetic treatments and values for which Stone Island has been famous since its inception.
All Stone Island Shadow fabrics work together as a part of the Performance Grid, and, as such, have no attributes that hinder the functional performance of the fabric. The fabrics are all: breathable, moisture managing (DWR and/or wicking/skin friendly), and maintainable (stable, sustainable, and easy to care for).
Some of the key fabrics and technologies for the 08/09 collection are:
Gore-Tex® Pro Shell 3L
The culmination of decades of development, Gore-Tex® Pro Shell is the non-plus ultra of protective fabrics. Conceived to endure the harshest of mountain conditions, Pro Shell fabrics are an amazing fusion of the seemingly mutually exclusive properties of toughness and lightness. The revolutionary Gore® Micro Grid Backer takes performance to the next level by reducing weight and bulk, and increasing abrasion resistance. Gore-Seam® Tape and GQS (Gore Quality Standard) performance tests ensure total weather protection.
_PROOF: Hardshell fabric
_Total waterproofness: Gore-Seam® tape and waterproof construction
_Extremely tough, extremely breathable, durably waterproof and windproof
_Engineered for extended and extreme conditions
_Guaranteed to Keep You Dry®
RASO-R with Windstopper® 3L and 2L
Developed in conjunction with W.L. Gore and Associates and exclusive to Stone Island Shadow, Raso-R is, in many ways, the foundation and ultimate expression of the Shadow concept. Taking one of the definitive Stone Island fabrics, Raso Gommato, as its’ departure point, classic Stone Island aesthetics are married to one of the most advanced performance technologies available today. The Windstopper® membrane provides an outstanding balance of protection and comfort management that is unsurpassed. The garment dye expertise of Stone Island results in styles with colours and vibrancy not found in any other performance fabric.
_RESIST: Lightshell fabric
_Total windproofness: Effective protection from windchill
_Maximum breathability: Allows moisture vapour to evaporate
_Maximum water resistance: Sheds rain, snow, and dries quickly
_Stone Island garment dyed
Batavia Teflon®
Another classic fabric from the Stone Island archives that has been impregnated with a water and stain repellent treatment during the garment dye process, Batavia Teflon® is a hard-wearing textile that performs well in a wide-spectrum of styles and uses.
_RESIST: Lightshell fabric
_Ideal wearability
_Water resistance
THE FUTURE
Like all true systems the Shadow is a living and dynamic idea -a platform for growth and change along a continuous curve. Stone Island Shadow will return next season with a further evolution.
