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A certain acknowledgement of cultural awareness, your Sunday Best or a testament to Italian high fashion? Perhaps all of the above. What really is Stone Island and why does it continue to charm the masses? Existing on the back of an inherently British stereotype that won’t seem to budge, the brand is one that is merely up for personal interpretation as its badge is worn on left arms globally, with merit.

The modern day British man is not complete without his Stoney. ‘Incase it kicks off at the pub’, they say. From football hooligans to the ordinary dad, the casual dress, fist fighting light that Stone Island is perceived in today has a long and charming history that many fail to admit.

There's something fascinating about how an esteemed Italian fashion brand, curated with a sense of understated luxury, has become one of Britain's football culture’s most notable fashion trends. Established in 1982, Stone Island has since been adopted by an array of subcultures; notably, the Gazelle-wearing white male, but it hasn’t always been this way, and its influence continues to penetrate through the masses.

Massimo Osti, the founder of Stone Island, birthed the brand on the philosophy of research, usability and experimentation. Hybridising fashion design and engineering, in the northern Italian town of Ravarino, he pioneered thousands of fabrics, methods and dyeing processes to bring his vision, which was always more than purely aesthetic, to life.

This vision was quickly obscured by the newfound continuous success of English football teams in the 80s, though. Osti’s creations were picked up by these fans who found themselves in the streets of European countries more and more and filled the terraces of the stadiums at overseas away games. This subculture, later known as ‘terrace casual', soon became keen on - what was then deemed foreign - continental sportswear brands that we see today. Even if they didn’t bring back a trophy, the Stone Island parker was without a doubt coming home.

In 1992 however, in true British style, Stone Island stock was unlawfully taken back to England after the European Championships in Sweden. This tournament saw England knocked out by the hosts, leading to the looting of a clothing outlet, ‘Genius’. Yet, this is what set the brand in stone when it came to a British consumer, cementing its influence on the subculture in an irony like no other.

The evolution of Stone Island became pretty stagnant from there on, with its two main audiences already established, one of which being the mainland European style-conscious male. This look was adapted from the 80s Milanese youth dynasty, the ‘Paninari’.

While they may have named themselves after a sandwich shop, the Paninari dressed themselves in expensive designer clothing - namely famous Italian labels - and coded their own slang in search for a new identity; one that was miles away from their parents who typically made up the Milanese Bourgeoisie. They prided themselves on knowing the English lyrics to 80s pop of the time, sharing tapes of Duran Duran and Wham! while posing in front of bikes and women. “Do you belong to any political party?”, reporters wondered at the time, but their responses were sparse and understated. The Paninari just wanted to have fun and look cool - politics asidewhich was far from true for the terrace casual subculture back in England.

Then came the brand’s influence across the pond. In 2014, Stone Island’s breakthrough in the United States was fueled by their collaboration with Supreme, a hype beast's kryptonite. This saw rappers like Travis Scott and Drake fighting over who discovered it first, and the appearance of the newly famed compass badge appearing on many celebrities’ left arm. This push into the mainstream led the brand back to the UK, once again, but in a completely different context. Stone Island continued to grow alongside the grime scene, amplifying the brand’s status once more.

In recent times, the rise of Stone Island amongst the British women’s streetwear scene has been prominent, and simply captivating to watch. Emulating looks taken from menswear lines has been a thing for women in streetwear since its dawn, but to take a brand that for many is a token of masculine pride or the uniform of lads down the local is something to honour when it comes to fashion. This contrast is exciting and is the next step to Stone Island’s venture to garner the attention of a whole new crowd.

The duality of the brand is what captures the true essence of fashion. Its ability to be adapted and accepted into an array of subcultures while each garment is a unique and beautifully engineered piece of high fashion is the kind of complexity that doesn’t come easy. All brands have their audiences and those they need to please, and yes, a label always means different things to different people, but the stark contrast of these audiences sets Stone Island apart. This variation of the same entity is what makes it special, and in its own way demonstrates the compounded identities that form through subcultures in fashion.

Whether you’re a 50-something football fan showing off his luminescent jacket, a Milanese mob star, rapper or even a womenswear collector, Stone Island welcomes all to share the mutual rapport that is classic innovation and simply an ode to what fashion should befor the people, and here’s our take on it. In simple terms, get the badge in.