As long as Stone Island is a clothing brand, the steady shift into Autumn will never become boring. Each season, without fail, the brand provides us with a catalogue of heavy-hitting outerwear. Down jackets, parkas, military coats – whatever the new selection may hold, Stone Island continue to bolster their outerwear arsenal each and every AW season.
Pretty much all of Stone Island’s outerwear is sublime, but a select few iconic models each decade make it into the fabled history books. In this article, to celebrate SEVENSTORE stocking the brand’s latest AW25 collection, we’ve attempted to narrow it down to one icon per decade. It’s not been an easy feat, and not everyone is going to agree with our picks, but we think we’ve done a decent job of collating the five biggest hitters since the brand’s foundation in 1982.
1980s – Tela Stella Reversible Jacket
Hands down the easiest choice on this list. The Tela Stella isn’t just the most iconic Stone Island jacket of the ’80s; it’s also the most iconic Stone Island jacket of all time. Constructed from hardwearing weatherproof fabric Osti found when digging through old military tarpaulins, the Tela Stella laid the groundwork for everything that came after it.
The highly unique fabric make-up of the military tarpaulin meant that when the jacket was garment dyed, the treated side would react differently to the untreated side, producing two different hues, both with a rich patina. Osti took this anomaly and used it as an opportunity to make the Tela Stella reversible.
Over the years, there have been so many iconic colourways of the Tela Stella. Red and cream. Navy and black. White and Grey. But the standout – the one everyone thinks of, and everyone wants – has to be red and green. Bold, bright and irrefutably ’80s. It might just be the best colour pairing on a piece of outerwear Stone Island has ever seen.
The construction of the Tela Stella also consolidated its position in the history books – the boxy fit was populated only with two large hand pockets, which sat on either side of a simple button-up closure system. The beautifully basic appearance of the jacket embodies the two most important cornerstones of Osti design language – functionality and wearability.
1990s – Glazed Silk ‘Toffee Wrapper’ Jacket
Picking the most iconic Stone Island jacket from the ’90s is like choosing your favourite child – but you’ve got fifty million of them to choose from. Honourable mentions from the decade include the Ice Camo Carpenter Jacket, Formula Steel Field Jacket, and Multipocket Raso Gommato Jacket. The ’90s symbolised a period of intense innovation for Stone Island, instanced by all of the mad fabrics Osti was using, but none were more mad – or iconic – than the 1992 Glazed Silk Jacket.
Colloquially known as the Toffee Wrapper Jacket, the Glazed Silk was destined to be an icon as soon as it hit the shelves. The shiny trilobate nylon glazed with PVC coating, created a translucent appearance that was incredibly eye-catching. And if you didn’t manage to spot it from a mile away, you could certainly hear it. Crinkly nylon rustled loudly as the wearer’s arms brushed past their torso, rendering it not only one of Stone Island’s most iconic jackets of all time, but also one of their loudest too.
The jacket was available in a handful of bold colourways, and none were more sought after than the deep ruby red, a colour that looked as if it had been plucked straight out of a Quality Street box – hence the jacket’s moniker.
The only downfall of the Glazed Silk Jacket was its next-to-skin comfort when worn without the Dutch Rope lining, which was akin to wearing a scratchy bin bag. So if you ever come across one of these with the lining intact, hold onto it for dear life.
2000s – Riot Mask Jacket
Our entry for the 2000s lands on the totally other end of the spectrum. While people wearing Toffee Wrapper Jackets wanted to be seen, those purchasing the infamous Riot Mask Jacket in the early ’00s did so to remain hidden.
The Riot Mask Jacket might not have been at the forefront of fabric innovation, and it wasn’t waterproof or all that warm, but what it did have was one of the coolest hoods the outerwear world has ever seen. And that’s pretty much the sole reason for its position in this list.
The riot mask feature had a highly unique closure system that covered the wearer’s face through two flaps joined together by Velcro. This was then paired with a peaked hood, which could be folded down to provide total anonymity. We’d absolutely love to know how many times this jacket must’ve appeared on CCTV in the 2000s.
Aside from its hood, the Riot Mask Jacket was constructed of Stone Island’s stalwart Raso Floccato fabric in an 80% cotton, 20% nylon mix, completed with signature three-striped cuffs like so many fantastic Osti-designed outerwear from the decade.
2010s – Camo Print-OVD
By the 2010s, Stone Island’s aesthetics were partly shifting back towards that of the ’80s & ’90s. Shiny fabrics like Mussola Prismatica were being reintroduced, and bright abstract patterns began to adorn the face fabrics of a handful of outerwear. The shift would prove to be divisive, but it undoubtedly birthed several garments that would go on to become contemporary classics, and in our eyes none were more iconic than the Raso Gommato Camo Print-OVD.
By the 2010s, Stone Island had flirted with camouflage prints on a semi-regular basis, but never quite like this. Instead of a classic woodland camo, the Camo-Print OVD opted for a much more modern splatter camo pattern, which was then presented in two not very inconspicuous colourways – red and blue. The Camo Print-OVD was a walking oxymoron, and that’s partly the reason we love it so much.
The jacket itself was constructed of Stone Island’s classic Raso Gommato fabric, a cotton/satin weave of military origin combined with an inner application of a polyurethane cover, rendering the Camo Print-OVD water and wind-resistant.
Despite its somewhat garish pattern, the Camo Print-OVD proved to be a semi-regularly spotted garment in the UK, likely thanks to its comfy quilted cotton lining and large functional pockets. Potentially the most wearable icon on this list.
2020s – Translucent Cover Short Parka Jacket
Alright, hear us out. We’re only halfway through this decade, so we’ll have to revisit this in another five years and see if our selection still stands. But right now, we believe the Translucent Cover Short Parka Jacket is worthy of being crowned the most iconic bit of Stone Island outerwear for the 2020s.
Just look at this thing. It’s mental. On one hand, you’ve got a translucent polyurethane outer layer that looks like something out of American Psycho, then under that, there’s a removable moleskin lining. The two components are attached together using a series of mad snap fastenings that allow you to rip the jacket apart like the Incredible Hulk. Should you want to.
Interestingly, the translucent and semi-transparent exterior of the Short Parka distorts the colour of the moleskin lining depending on what kind of light you’re in. It’s certainly not one for everybody, and it might just be the hardest jacket to style on this whole list, but the Translucent Cover Short Parka Jacket serves as a reminder of why we’ll never fall out of love with Stone Island. – The brand never stops innovating, and each season, you never quite know what they’re going to come up with.
Other AW25 offerings available from SEVEN STORE
Seamless Tunnel Hooded Down Jacket
Crinkle Reps Down Parka Jacket
Canvas Weave Utility Parka Jacket
SEVENSTORE’s Full AW25 Stone Island Collection available to shop here.
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