This weekend, Stone Island ventured across the Atlantic to inaugurate its first major US exhibition. Titled ‘Selected Works ‘982-‘024’, it showcases a collection of rare and previously unseen pieces – such as the first comprehensive overview of the Stone Island Shadow Project, alongside exploring Stone Island’s various collaborations.
The exhibition, displayed in Los Angeles’ Buttercup Studios, Culver City this past weekend, coincided with Frieze LA.
Stone Island presents: ‘Selected Works ‘982-‘024’
The brand, founded in Italy in 1982, is best known for its experimental use of fabric. This was on full display here, the exhibition comprising various designs which represented Stone Island’s boundary-pushing fabric technology, while encompassing Stone Island’s synonymy with functionality, ease and subculture.
’Selected Works ’982-’024’ also invited visitors to explore the display of 42 archival pieces, all carefully curated to map out Stone Island’s milestones. The Italian fashion house nods to its research in reflectivity, displaying the ‘992 collection, which includes 12 reflective jackets. A behind-the-scenes look at its innovative design process was also granted to visitors, with seven rare pieces from the Stone Island Prototype Research Series also on display.
Collaboration was a key theme throughout the retrospective, with a display of the brand’s projects with Supreme, New Balance, and NikeLab. It also featured the largest-ever retrospective of Stone Island’s ‘Shadow Project’, a long-running collaboration between the brand, Errolson Hugh and Michaela Sachenbacher Acronym design studio. For the first time, pieces from across the entire collaboration were displayed, allowing a behind-the-scenes insight into the research methods of cut, form, and materiality.
While diving into the retrospective, live sets from local DJs such as Jacob Rochester and Bianca Lexis added to the show’s atmosphere. A selection of curated books and records nodded to Frieze LA's celebration of art and design, accompanied by prints created by various artists.
Though the exhibition was brief – running only over Frieze weekend – it will likely travel over the coming months.
