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OVERVIEW

A culture of material research, innovation and functionality are the values that have always defined Stone Island, an apparel brand founded in 1982 by Massimo Osti and Carlo Rivetti, with a center of excellence in Ravarino – a small town in the province of Modena – and intended to become a symbol of extreme research on fibres and fabrics, applied to an innovative design.

It is truly through the study of form and the “handling” of materials that Stone Island finds its own language, which has extreme research and maximum functionality as founding pillars. Each Stone Island piece is born from a perfect synthesis between experimentation and usability, between the study of fabrics and rationality. The study of uniforms and work clothes becomes the Stone Island observatory in defining a concept in which the function of the garment goes beyond aesthetics. 

An on-going and in-depth investigation on the transformation and ennobling of fibres and fabrics, and on the unique ability to intervene on the finished garment through continuous dyeing experiments have led, over the years, to the discovery of materials and production techniques never previously used and to the development of more than 60,000 different dye recipes.

HISTORY

The first collection of Stone Island was born from the creative mind of Massimo Osti, inspired by the military uniforms and realised with Tela Stella – a fabric that recalls the waxed jackets corroded by the sea and by the sun – resulted from the study of a rigid, full-bodied, two-sided and two-tone truck tarpaulin which underwent a heavy stone wash procedure. To this, a “Badge” – a fabric label showing the Stone Island Wind Rose – was applied. 

BUSINESS MODEL

Stone Island is a global leader of product design and garment innovation. It has consistently pushed fabric technology and experimentation, particularly focusing on functionality and utilitarianism. Design is driven by purpose, resulting in an immediately recognisable signature of cut, form, materiality and colour. 

Alongside Stone Island men collections, the brand offers the Stone Island Junior collection – a declination of the brand for children and teenagers from 2 to 14 years old.

  • LEARN MORE ABOUT STONE ISLAND COLLECTIONS

Four decades dedicated to textile research, experimentation, study of the garment’s function and innovation, often investigating worlds far from clothing, have made Stone Island a brand defined by its unique and distinctive research and an essential point of reference for the world of apparel and design today.

Important challenges also faced thanks to the commitment of the creative team, who managed to transfer its vision into the product, with passion and enthusiasm, pushing its research efforts on uncharted territories. 

The complete product development cycle is managed internally, at its headquarter in Ravarino (province of Modena). 

Stone Island’s mission has always been to pursue product innovation through continuous deployment of know-how and all-around research on fibres, yarns, fabrics, finishes and dye whilst cultivating the ambition to offer a product that is unique in its category.

In order to achieve this mission, product development has been carefully managed through an internal and integrated system in which modelling, prototypes and dyeing combine with established external partnerships in both research and execution.

The value chain – when it comes to the selection of ancillary materials and components, as well as to manufacture and dyeing – is managed under the strict supervision of Company technicians at established partners that are aligned with the Company’s ethical and regulatory codes.

Fabrics and yarns are supplied by the best Italian and foreign companies, in particular from Japan and Korea.

Manufacturing is in Italy, in the Mediterranean basin and in the Far East, at established third-party companies trained in the know-how needed to satisfy the brand’s standards of quality and sustainability.

The Stone Island brand is distributed globally both through the wholesale channel and with direct presence (retail stores). Furthermore, in some markets the brand is managed by distribution contracts with qualified and long-standing partners, selected on the basis of their high knowledge of the fashion sector. The brand is currently present in the most important department stores in the world, also with dedicated spaces (shop-in-shops), in the best multi-brand boutiques and in the main e-tailers, besides having developed a network of 81 directly managed mono-brand stores as well as the online store.

In line with the Group’s strategy aimed at the integrated development of its distribution channels, Stone Island has begun a path that will lead the brand to a greater control of distribution on international markets, through a progressive direct management of the markets currently managed by distributors and through the expansion of the DTC channel. Indeed, after the internalization of the management of the Korean and of Japanese markets as well as internalization of DTC business in UK in 2022, at the end of 2023 Stone Island started the process to take full control of the brand distribution in the Chinese market, which will be completed over the first months of 2024. 

At the same time, the Company is enhancing its control and doors’ selection in the wholesale segment, a channel of strategic importance for Stone Island, with the aim of further elevating the positioning of the brand itself.

In 2023 the wholesale channel accounted for 58% of revenues while the remaining 42% was generated by directly managed stores and the online channel. As of 31 December 2023, the network of mono-brand Stone Island stores was composed of 15 wholesale stores and 81 retail stores, +9 units compared to 31 December 2022. Some of the most important stores opened and/or converted to DOS in the year include Stockholm and Chengdu Swire, in addition to some important relocations/expansions including Munich and Amsterdam Bijenkorf. 

“The image is the product”, is the absolute protagonist in every marketing activity, starting from communication.

Over the years, the brand has created a strong and recognisable iconography entrusted to the multiculturalism expressed by the faces of the models and the direct photo shoot on a white background where the garments are perfectly legible.

The detailed description of the fabric and the treatment of each individual garment are also present in the advertising campaigns.

Stone Island’s tone of voice is direct and informative. Without adjectives, it is closer to the rigour of industrial design than to the world of fashion and lifestyle: a solid brand visual identity is also expressed in the videos.

The product remains at the centre not only of marketing activities but also of installations, special projects in flagship stores and pop-ups with clients of international importance.

Both its website and its social media platforms reflect the clean and industrial aesthetics of Stone Island.

The social media of reference is Instagram, flanked by the main platforms: Facebook, X (Twitter), Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok and Vimeo, in addition to Chinese social media: WeChat, Weibo and Little Red Book.

Stone Island has a very active fan base that interacts intensely with the official account and that promotes the brand through many spontaneous fan-based groups on social networks.

Over time Stone Island got closer to the music world, an important brand’s communication tool, with STONE ISLAND PRESENTS, a project for international music events featuring since 2015 high profile talents from the electronic music scene and more, and with STONE ISLAND SOUND, founded in 2020, a project that supports contemporary music production with the aim of promoting local communities while building an ideal world sound map.

In 2023, Stone Island announced a global multi-year partnership with Frieze, a leading international contemporary art and culture platform. Commencing at Frieze London in October 2023, Stone Island became the Official Partner of Focus, the section dedicated to galleries of younger talents, and of Frieze 91, the global membership program that provides access to the communities and art-shaping contemporary culture.

The common thread that runs through the history of Stone Island’s collaborations is that they take place with mutual respect between collaborators. This was the case for the ante litteram collaborations launched, already in 2009, with Adidas and New Balance; and this further strengthened with other important collaborations including Supreme from 2014 to today, Nike from 2016 to 2019, Head Porter from 2015 to 2020, Persol in 2020 and from 2021, a new long-term partnership with New Balance.

VALUES AND PURPOSE

Stone Island is LAB & LIFE together. It is continuous research, identity, community. Stone Island is a transversal and authentic brand, that has its foundations in the product. 

LAB is the constant, deep and relentless research into the transformation and enhancement of fibres and fabrics, which leads to the discovery of new materials and production techniques that have never been previously used in the clothing industry.

LIFE is the lived experience, the identity, the community of those who are proud to wear Stone Island. It is the strong and recognisable aesthetic that originates from the study of uniforms and working clothes, recreated with new needs in mind, to define a project where the function of the garment is never just aesthetic.

The product-centred ethos spreads through both the Stone Island collection and all those living the brand, every day, inside and outside of the Company.

KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

REVENUES BY CHANNEL

STONE ISLAND

FY 2023

FY 2022

% vs 2022

EUR 000

%

EUR 000

%

rep FX

cFX

DTC

172,844

42.0%

149,153

37.2%

+16%

+19%

Wholesale

238,214

58.0%

251,979

62.8%

-5%

-5%

REVENUES

411,058

100.0%

401,132

100.0%

+2%

+4%

REVENUES BY REGION

STONE ISLAND

FY 2023

FY 2022

% vs 2022

EUR 000

%

EUR 000

%

rep FX

cFX

EMEA

287,506

69.9%

278,670

69.5%

+3%

+3%

Asia

89,441

21.8%

80,177

20.0%

+12%

+16%

Americas

34,111

8.3%

42,285

10.5%

-19%

-17%

REVENUES

411,058

100.0%

401,132

100.0%

+2%

+4%

MONO-BRAND STORES NETWORK

STONE ISLAND

31/12/2023

30/09/2023

31/12/2022

Asia

48

47

44

EMEA

26

23

21

Americas

7

7

7

RETAIL

81

77

72

WHOLESALE

15

19

19