Dior men has unveiled a surprising new collab’ collection with Stone Island, the nautically tinted apparel brand born in the inland city of Ravarino.
 

Founded by Massimo Osti in 1982 Stone Island is named the works of the great Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad.
 
The brand is noted for its use of techy and reflective fabrics, often dyed and worn to suggest an anti-fashion sentiment. While its logo is a yellow and green compass with a nautical star.  Its aesthetic origins are in military clothing, workwear and active sportswear, especially for water based activities. Arguably the most inventive fabric innovator in post-war Italy, Osti won plaudits for ingenious materials like rubber flax and rubber wool, before dying of cancer aged just 59 in 2005.

“There is a meeting of Monsieur Dior and Massimo Osti’s work for Stone Island in this collection – it is the coming together of ‘obsessives.’ They might have been people from opposite ends of the fashion spectrum – from an haute couture vision to that of military functionality – yet I think they’d recognize something in each other and in what they achieved through clothing. Here, in the coming together of contrasting traditions, there’s a kind of clothing alchemy,“ said Dior’s men’s creative director Kim Jones.
 
Nonetheless, Stone Island’s roots in mock military fatigue gear do seem somewhat far from Monsieur Dior, whose fame was based on creating beauty after the horrors of WW2, an era he described as “the period of war, of uniforms, of women built like boxers.” In effect, the collection combines large doses of British-born Jones’ signature chic with typical Stone Island materials.
 
Like an oversized faded beige cotton suit worn with Dior cannage matelassé waistcoats; or the rather cool pale gray jerkins embroidered with couture-like garment dyed embroidered flowers. Which Dior claimed were culled from its own couture archives, specifically autumn/winter 1952, and spring/summer 2013.
 
Jones also played with what he called “the alchemy of color,” in a novel palette for Dior – mustard, pale Confederate grey; faded strawberry or a minty green that recalled Prada. Used throughout the 74-item collection.
 
The cut throughout is rather oversized and casual, recalling the fact Stone Island has long been associated with middle-class kids in Italy but football hooligans or ‘casuals’ in Britain. The brand’s clothes can be seen worn by characters in two films that covered football hooliganism early this century – Green Street and The Football Factory. Though with jackets priced at around €5,000 this collection is well beyond the range of most Stone Island fans.
 
Kim also applied cannage leather to patch pockets of some great navy blue four-pocket parkas which look like bestsellers and riffed on a 1988 Stone Island jacket. These and most looks blended the two brands’ logos, with Dior placed above the Italian house’s emblem, albeit in black and white. In terms of accessories, there are admirable gray Dior Oblique pattern sneakers and a circular bag, finished with a four pointed compass style star.
 
Stone Island was acquired by Remo Ruffini’s Moncler group in 2021. The brand is something of a collab’ junkie, having teamed up previously with Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Supreme. The latter of which partnered with Jones in his previous job  as menswear designer of Louis Vuitton.
 
The collection will be available exclusively in Dior boutiques from June 14 in Milan, June 18 in London, June 27 in the U.S., and July 4 worldwide.