A visit to Birmingham reveals how a passion for Stone Island and C.P. Company grew into a resale business, with the hunt for unusual outerwear still at its heart.
For many collectors, there comes a point when the wardrobe can no longer keep up with the habit. Another jacket arrives, space gets tighter, and something has to go.
For one of the collectors behind Birmingham-based Evo Island, the answer was initially a one-in, one-out rule. Buying a new jacket meant selling another. But the enjoyment extended beyond owning the clothes: searching for pieces, meeting other enthusiasts and buying and selling had become part of the appeal.
Turning that interest into a business offered a way to keep going.
Having first met the team at a Pockets event, we visited Evo Island to explore both their resale stock and the personal collection behind it. Across the rails, vintage Stone Island sits alongside newer releases, C.P. Company collaborations and experimental outerwear. Together, they offer a view of the brands that is difficult to get from a single season on a shop floor.
Seeing these jackets together draws your attention to the differences between them: the weight of a fabric, the construction of a removable liner, the finish around a seam or the way a collar fastens.
A Raso jacket introduced during the visit as a 1998 piece captures that appeal. Its relatively understated exterior gives way to layers and internal details that become more apparent when it is opened up. The interest lies in how the parts work together, and how differently the jacket can be worn.
Elsewhere, an older Ice Jacket still demonstrates its temperature-sensitive colour change. Its belt, collar trim and substantial lining give it a presence beyond the fabric treatment itself.
These are the details that make handling the clothes so valuable. A photograph can show a silhouette, but it cannot fully communicate the weight, texture or construction that draws collectors back to particular pieces.
The visit also brings out a less glamorous part of collecting experimental clothing: condition.
Reflective finishes can rub away. Coatings can crack or peel. A treatment that made a jacket remarkable on release may also make it more difficult to preserve years later.
The team discuss that balance openly while examining older pieces. Surviving examples vary considerably, and condition becomes part of the decision to buy, wear or keep a jacket.
It adds another dimension to the hunt. Finding the right model is one challenge; finding it in a condition you are happy with is another.
The personal collection includes collaborations involving Supreme, Palace and Mackintosh, alongside less familiar pieces and unusual production examples.
One of the most revealing jackets retains production annotations in Italian. The collector explains that the notes include instructions about buttonhole placement and stitching—small adjustments that offer a glimpse into the work behind the finished garment.
Yet rarity does not automatically make something a regular wearer. He readily acknowledges that some pieces are too much for his own style, even while appreciating their place in the collection.
That distinction gives the rails a personal character. There are striking treatments and unusual designs, but also plenty of quieter jackets whose appeal comes through their cut, material and detail. Collecting allows room for both appreciation and personal preference.
The personal collection includes collaborations involving Supreme, Palace and Mackintosh, alongside less familiar pieces and unusual production examples.
One of the most revealing jackets retains production annotations in Italian. The collector explains that the notes include instructions about buttonhole placement and stitching—small adjustments that offer a glimpse into the work behind the finished garment.
Yet rarity does not automatically make something a regular wearer. He readily acknowledges that some pieces are too much for his own style, even while appreciating their place in the collection.
That distinction gives the rails a personal character. There are striking treatments and unusual designs, but also plenty of quieter jackets whose appeal comes through their cut, material and detail. Collecting allows room for both appreciation and personal preference.
