Stone Island’s headquarters in Ravarino, Italy, are a laboratory for fabric: since its founding in 1982 by material innovator Massimo Osti, the label has had a unique set-up whereby prototypers, dyeing experts, technicians and fabric researchers all work together at the Modena HQ without the need for outside factories or producers.
‘There’s an interaction between the research and development department, the product, the designers, the dyeing process,’ Sasha Kanevskyi, Stone Island’s design director, told Wallpaper* when we toured the headquarters earlier this year (the Italian brand was a recipient of a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025). ‘There is not one separate department working on their own – everyone influences each other.’
First look: ‘Stone Island x New Balance 998 Made In USA’ sneaker
Revealed today (17 March 2025), the latest sneaker in a long-running collaboration with Boston sportswear brand New Balance finds its roots in a pioneering archival fabric developed by Osti in 1984. Titled ‘Raso Gommato’, the material – a satin-weave military fabric with a polyurethane coating which makes it water- and windproof – is one of Stone Island’s foundational fabrics, inspiring a cotton-canvas version for the brand’s S/S 2025 collection.
It is this new fabric which makes up the collaborative sneaker, its silhouette drawn from a design from New Balance’s own archive: the 998, first introduced in 1993 and the debut shoe to feature the brand’s Abzorb cushioning. Crafted from the hard-wearing polyurethane-coated cotton, the shoe’s colourway is inspired by those found in Stone Island’s S/S 2025 collection – namely, rich hues of mauve, plum, and ‘copper maroon’.
The design also features Stone Island’s iconic ‘Compass’ emblem on the tongue – a longtime signature found on all of the Italian brand’s garments and accessories – while a translucent sole features ‘Stone Island Product Research’, in a nod to the Ravarino HQ.
The ‘Stone Island x New Balance 998 Made In USA’ sneaker will be available later this month on March 27, 2025 at selected Stone Island stores – including outposts in Milan, London and Seoul – as well as the Stone Island website.
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