Collaborations are becoming the way forward for modern fashion brands. With collaborations between brands on the rise, we’ve seen some of the biggest menswear labels get together to push the boundaries of design and create more products and collections that see two brand personalities collide. Now, it’s the turn of some of our trend drivers, Stone Island, teaming up with the classic footwear brand, New Balance, for a multi-year partnership.
Collaborative projects come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve seen icons like David Beckham team up with high-street retailer H&M, to Supreme working with luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton, to create the holy grail one off collections every lad would dream of wearing. But collaborations don’t just stop at the one exclusive collection… From the likes of Michael Jordan collaborating with Nike, creating the revolutionary brand Nike Jordan, to Kanye West teaming up with Adidas to create the much loved, $3 billion brand, Yeezy. These collaborations haven’t just seen one off collections being launched with such limited availability, but whole brands producing seasonal collections and keeping up to date with current trends. Some of these collaborative brands are now the most well-known, successful labels in menswear.
Stone Island x New Balance 577
Last year, New Balance challenged themselves with a number of collaborations to create more partnerships with outside brands. The projects included pairing up with Casablanca, Jaden Smith, Tokyo Design Studio, Levi’s, JJJJound and Stray Rats. After such a tough year, in the midst of a global pandemic and the uncertainty of the financial year ahead, it was great to see the brand rethink their strategy and extend an olive branch to other brands to excel through a difficult time. Now, it’s Stone Island’s turn.
Stray Rats x New Balance 827
Recently it has been announced that the latest New Balance collaboration, which is currently in the works, will be leading Italian menswear label, Stone Island. We’ve got super high hopes for this collab’, after seeing such great work from both brands, we expect some super interesting silhouettes and technical detailing. Both brands have kept talk of the project to a minimum, no images of the collection or hints to new designs have been surfaced yet, but we’re keeping our eyes peeled for any clues.
JJJJound x New Balance 992
Stone Island recently announced the multi-year partnership with New Balance via Instagram, which explained that “both brands share similar values of research and functionality in their respective areas of expertise, and take an analytical approach to innovative data-driven design.” Chief Marketing Officer at New Balance, Chris Davis, said “Both New Balance and Stone Island are independently minded brands with strong aptitudes for calculated risk-taking. We both pride ourselves on having our fingers on the pulse of culture, elevating our rich heritage, and creating authentic brand experiences for our global consumers. We look forward to pushing the boundaries and experimenting with design.”
The brands have only ever paired together once before, in 2013 to create two re-designs of the New Balance 577 silhouette – one silhouette in a vibrant, sunset orange and the second in a monochrome white, grey and black colourway. After nearly a decade, this collaboration has been long awaited and we look forward to seeing the final results.
You can check out the current Stone Island range here, or the latest pieces from New Balance by clicking here.
