With Milan Design Week commencing, the 7th installment of Stone Island‘s Prototype Research Series is unveiled and at The Hoxton Trend, we just had to get a front row view of the experimental pieces on display and were even lucky enough to get some words from the genius behind it all, Carlo Rivetti.Â
From the recent Marina collection, Shadow Project, and Ghost line, It’s easy to get lost while keeping up with Stone Island‘s consistent release strategy but there’s one Series from the luxury Italian label that outshines them all.
The annual Prototype Research Series proves Stone Island are truly experts at experimenting with different fabrications and methods. It’s 7th installment is currently being unveiled, where THT visited the museum-like Stone Island venue in Milan to examine the new Liquid Crystal Heat Reactive pieces.
The Prototype Research Series is Stone Island‘s way of proving they’re ahead of the curve. Each installment uses fabrics and/or treatments born from research and experimentation processes that has not yet reached an industrial scale.Â
Series 07 focuses on outerwear pieces that have been crafted with the unique Liquid Crystal Heat Reactive methods, a thermochromic technology that’s as exciting as it sounds.
Carlo Rivetti was at the Series 07 unveiling at Milan Design Week where he personally spoke to us about the new Prototype Research Series and explains what the Series and label strive to achieve: “We must never stop innovating, we always try new things.”
Carlo was sporting the Stone Island Heritage Camo Ripstop Jacket and explained that one of his favourite ever Stone Island pieces is the Hand painted Raso jacket but admitted he can’t pick a singular favourite as all of “the special pieces are all my children.”
You can explore some snaps we captured of the Prototype Research Series 07 in the gallery below.
As explained on its website, Stone Island puts Series 07 into words: “The nylon canvas fabric, coated with a reactive helical-shaped cholesteric liquid crystal ink, reveals a vast spectrum of chromatic points through numerous unexpected degrees of iridescence.
“Between 15° and 31°C, there is an exceptional color variance. The liquid crystals in the fabric trigger a reactive molecular color change system that can be seen in the color metamorphosis, shifting between shades of yellow and green into blues.”
Stone Island are no strangers to heat reactive garments but they’ve never designed outerwear that react as efficiently as the new pieces crafted with thermochromic technology of liquid crystal heat reactive methods.Â
The 07 Series garments will eventually be available to purchase, but you’ll have to be quick as we discovered only about 100 pieces are set to be made available from the Stone Island website.Â
We’ve been following the Prototype Research Series for some time now, and from Series 06 and Series 05, the latest installation continues to outdo its previous years.Â
Stone Island‘s Prototype Research Series 07 is currently on display at Milan Design Week from Tuesday, April 18 – Sunday, April 23.
Keeping in tune with previous years, Series 07 will launch online once Design Week concludes but be prepared as they don’t usually come cheap.Â
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