Stone Island has become a well-known designer clothing brand, worn by celebrities, including popular rappers, across the globe, highlighting its high-end appeal.
However, its roots were much more modest. Stone Island became popular among young people in Milan in the early to mid-1980s and quickly became an emblem of the subculture of football hooliganism in the late 1980s and early 1990s in England. Find out how this happened below.
The origins of Stone Island
Stone Island was founded in 1982 in a north Italian town called Ravarino. Fashion designer, Massimo Osti, who also founded C.P. Company in 1971, set up Stone Island as a high-quality clothing brand for men.
The technical fabrics and distinct compass rose badge embroidered on the left sleeve of jackets, coats, and t-shirts made Stone Island stand out and helped it on its way to becoming a cultural phenomenon. ‘Get the badge in’ is a phrase associated with Stone Island and still acts as a unique selling point for consumers looking to buy designer clothing.
There’s even a ‘Get the badge in’ X/Twitter account with over 200,000 followers – for brand devotees to show off their Stone Island badges in their pictures.
‘Paninaro’ Group popularises Stone Island
Shortly after the brand’s launch in 1982, Stone Island was adopted by a group of young people in northern Italy who were obsessed with designer clothing and American-inspired consumerism.
This group was called the ‘Paninaro’ as they met at the Al Panino sandwich shop in Milan to show off their latest gear – typically by Stone Island, C.P. Company, Moncler and Levis.
Stone Island captured the attention of travelling British fans during the 1980s when English teams enjoyed a successful period in European competitions. On May 30, 1984, Liverpool played Roma in the Champions Clubs’ Cup at Rome’s Stadio Olympico, and Liverpool won the trophy after a penalty shootout.
Liverpool fans didn’t come away with just a trophy, though, as they discovered Stone Island while exploring the city of Rome. Ever the trendsetters, Roma fans wore the jackets with the symbolic compass rose on the left sleeve, inspiring Liverpool fans to sample the brand and bring it back to England.
Former Everton player Derek Mountfield, who won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985, spoke to BBC Sport about the shift in fashion culture among English supporters. He said: “Fans would go to Europe and bring back clothes.”
Many other English fans were introduced to the Italian clothing brand in the 1980s during European away trips, and soon Stone Island spread in English culture to become a subcultural phenomenon. When popular football players, including Eric Cantona, started to wear the brand in the 1990s, the popularity of Stone Island grew exponentially.
Subculture in Britain begins
Quickly, the subcultural movement labelled the ‘terrace casuals’ became embedded within British football fan culture. The Italian fashion style inspired young fans and hooligan firms, and they would wear Stone Island and other designer-branded clothes to games instead of their traditional club colours. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stone Island had fully spread among the ‘casuals’ groups, leading to its increasing reputation as a hooligan uniform.
Firms in England consistently wore Stone Island jackets and coats to games, for example, the Birmingham City Zulu Firm. In fact, Stone Island became so synonymous with football hooliganism in the 1990s that some grounds and pubs started to ban ‘Stoney’ clothing due to its negative connotations at a time when hooliganism was a significant problem in English football.
dir=”ltr”>GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS #stoneandboys #stoneislandclothing #stoneislanduk #stoneisland
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Follow Stone island Community @stoneandboys pic.twitter.com/AWb2uYMvxh— STONE AND BOYS (@Stoneandboysone) November 27, 2020
Stone Island is featured in films such as Green Street and Football Factory, where stereotypical London football hooligans are depicted wearing the compass rose. The characters in these films focus their attention on designer fashion and fighting with other firms before and after matches.
Stone Island reaches wider culture
Recently, Stone Island has evolved into a popular, mainstream brand worn by celebrities. This was boosted by the collaboration with Supreme in 2014, which saw Stone Island gain popularity in the United States especially.
Popular Canadian rapper Drake has also helped catapult the brand’s reputation from a symbol of football hooliganism to mainstream celebrity gear. Drake has been wearing Stone Island since 2015 and has even sported the compass rose badge on jewellery items such as necklaces. American celebrities such as Spike Lee, Vince Staples, and Travis Scott are also fans.
dir=”ltr”>Pep Guardiola on a madness with the Stone Island jumper 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/pxtyQUTfKh
— Rudimental (@Rudimental) August 7, 2016
UK hip-hop artists like Skepta, Stormzy, Kano, and Davo have been pictured wearing Stone Island, further increasing its broader cultural appeal as a fashionable, high-end designer brand. And in football, it has been worn by well-known football personalities, with Pep Guardiola seen wearing Stone Island on the touchline during his managerial spell at Manchester City.
Stone Island's popularity continues to grow. It's sole reputation as the uniform for English football hooligans is waning, owing to the brand's versatility in the constantly evolving and fickle world of fashion.
The legacy of Stone Island and Football
Lanre Bakare of The Guardian wrote an in-depth article on Stone Island in November 2024, where he talked to the brand chairman Carlo Rivetti. Rivetti has overseen Stone Island's evolution since the 1980s and described the cult status of the clothing item. He said (via The Guardian): “If I am in a bar and I see someone wearing Stone Island, I start talking.
“The garment you put on your skin, the food you put inside yourself, it’s a very close relationship.”
Within the same article, Bakare spoke to Sam Diss, who hosts a podcast called ‘The English Disease', where he looks at the history of football hooliganism. He said: “Like anything cool it inevitably gets co-opted by the uncool and that’s kind of how I feel about Stone Island now.”
“If I see someone ‘getting the badge in’ [now], then they’re either doing it ironically or they’re someone on Sky Sports, like Gary Neville.”
VERSUS also had a sit-down interview with Rivetti in November 2024, after the updated version of the popular book ‘Storia' was re-released late last year. The book looks at the history and evolution of Stone Island since its inception in 1982.
In Rivetti's interview with VERSUS, he was asked about the brand's relationship with football. He said: “We became famous in England because of one man. There was a boutique in Manchester called Flannels and there was a guy playing for Manchester United who went in and bought some Stone Island product. Then he went on TV wearing the badge. And from there, it was done. His name was Eric Cantona. Sport people like Stone Island because Stone Island performs. We're popular as well with basketball players as well but it's difficult to find products in their size!”
FGG says: Is it becoming a bit of a joke?
Given that hooligan culture in British football has died down significantly since the 1970s and 80s, it is difficult not to cringe at teenagers today heading to football matches kitted out in Stone Island from head to toe.
The brand has also become a meme in its own right, with the ‘get the badge in' craze sweeping across social media in recent years. While that may have helped with sales figures, it hasn't done much for the brand's credibility as a serious ‘high-end' fashion label.