Stone Island’s New Paris Flagship Honors Collaboration, Creativity, and Community

Last week in Paris, Italian luxury fashion brand Stone Island raised a toast to a thrilling relocation in the City of Light to the prestigious address of Rue St. Honoré 223. Staying true to its roots of meticulous research and bold exploration and experimentation, the pioneering brand’s latest endeavor is a sweeping space created in close, dynamic partnership with OMA/AMO architecture studio and practice. Every inch of the new, must-see realm shines radiant light on cutting-edge processes, ingenious and eco-conscious use of materials, as well as stunning and meaningful design collaborations. 

On this momentous occasion, Stone Island gathered beloved family and friends of the brand in a warm, jubilant evening at legendary restaurant La Belle Epoque. 100 esteemed guests including Skepta, Ethan Ruan, Gene Gallagher, Giggs, A$AP Nast, Chy Cartier, John Glacier, Alexandre Diop, Ken-Tonio Yamamoto, Axl Beats, Avi Gold, Chito Vera, Sébastian Tellier, and YAIR basked in an effervescent live show from jazz band BADBADNOTGOOD before sitting down to an unforgettable community dinner. Later, a DJ set by Sam Gellaitry set the dazzling night aglow.  Whitewall sat down with Robert Triefus, CEO of Stone Island, and Samir Bantal, Director of OMA/AMO, to discuss the brand’s constant evolution, its powerful, multicultural bonds, and its energetic new milestones. 

WW: The new Paris flagship store showcases bold material experimentation, from cork walls to compressed soil. How do these choices reflect Stone Island’s brand ethos and commitment to research and innovation?

ROBERT TRIEFUS: When you enter a store where the product has such an important history in terms of material research and innovation, it’s important that the context that product is living within is synergistic and there’s a good chemistry. I think with Samir, there was a great effort to understand what natural materials could be introduced to a store concept that could speak and relate to the product. The soil, the paper, the ceiling, the cork, these are all materials that have a natural element to them. I think they speak the same language that goes into the notion of material research of our collections.

It’s clearly quite a contrast, the more futuristic interior compared with the facade, but at the same time, if you look at the burnt cork, if you look at the round earth, there’s a warmth to it that I think allows for a kind of emphasis on innovation that is also very welcoming. 

A Platform for Community Engagement 

WW: The new store positions itself as a platform for community engagement. How do you envision this space fostering deeper connections with Stone Island’s core audience in Paris?

RT: Of course the location itself, this neighborhood is one that sees a very diverse community. Being here allows us to connect with that. At the same time, we will use the location as we do with all of our locations at relevant moments to host community events. Equally, I think an expression of community is in the young designers who have been commissioned to make certain elements of the store, from the furniture to the speakers to the lighting. So it’s also a community of young designers that are allowed to express themselves through the store. 

Of course, the storytelling that is most visible is our advertising, which picks up on 15 years of iconic Stone Island advertising. Stone Island became famous over 15 years for the nine models looking forward against a white background. As we began this next chapter, we wanted to find a way to integrate the community. With David Sims and Hans Ulrich Obrist, we’ve created this beautiful project which we call Community as a Form of Research, with David shooting portraits and Hans Ulrich doing interviews. It allows us to engage the community. For example from Paris in the last campaign we have the artist Alexandre Diop, we have Philippe Starck. And we’re just introducing the next campaign. You can see on the screens here Spike Lee among others. 

An Auditory Dimension to the Store Experience 

WW: The inclusion of the Stone Island Sound project brings an auditory dimension to the store experience. How does this reflect the brand’s connection to multiculturalism and subcultural communities?

RT: Stone Island is a very unusual brand that—over its 40 year history—has been adopted by different subcultures. Whereas many brands decide, okay, we want to approach that community, it’s been the reverse with Stone Island. Over time, music in particular has been a culture that has intersected with Stone Island. The grime music scene, the hip hop scene, electronic music. Stone Island Sound is a platform, and as much as the campaign uses community as a form of research, we’re using sound as a form of research, connecting with all the different musical genres with which the brand has built bridges. 

“Stone Island is a very unusual brand that—over its 40 year history—has been adopted by different subcultures,”

Robert Triefus

Actually tonight, at our community dinner, I was looking at the broad range of musicians who are present and it’s a very diverse group. I think the speaker is a symbol of sound, and we carry forward a relationship with C2C, Club 2 Club. They have a very important festival in Turin every year, electronic music. We now have podcasts, we have music playlists, so we’re little by little expanding this notion of Stone Island Sound.

Highlighting the Stone Island Archive 

WW: The Paris store features a glass vitrine showcasing garments from the Stone Island Archive. How important is it for the brand to highlight its legacy and educate customers about its history?

RT: I was referring just now to the collaboration that we did with Kim Jones last year. Kim approached Stone Island because he has this great respect for Stone Island’s archive. This is a brand that from the first year kept its collection in an archive, so we have a very authentic, complete archive. Here we have from 1995, made from formula steel, one of the materials that we’ve pioneered. You can see behind you how it links to an item in the collection. it’s not a replica, but it is an inspiration that leads to a new design. That creates a dialogue. 

The “Lighthouse” Store in Paris and Beyond 

WW: With Paris serving as a key “lighthouse” store, how does this flagship align with your broader vision for Stone Island’s global retail presence?

RT: We’ve identified eight cities in the world that we call lighthouse cities. Paris, of course, has to be on that list, and what we’re trying to make sure of is that in those cities, wherever you come into contact with Stone Island, you find it in its best representation. So here in Paris, where we’ve had a store for a number of years, we had this opportunity to take over this location. We took the opportunity because it allows us to bring the new concept to Paris not only as an important capital but also the first fashion capital where we have this new concept. Simultaneously, we’re looking at other destinations where Stone Island is present. Galerie Lafayette will have this new concept introduced. 

OMA/AMO’s Design Approach

WW: The Stone Island Paris store embodies a balance between functionality, material innovation, and heritage. How did OMA/AMO approach the design to reflect the brand’s core values of research and experimentation?

SAMIR BANTAL: Robert reached out to me right after I had worked with Virgil Abloh on a store. Robert reached out because, he said, I heard that your approach is a bit atypical. Then architects will ask you for a brief and then they start making a design. We met and this was still Covid time so it was zoom. I said first thing, I want to visit your factory because I need to understand the brand. I also said, I think I would like to see your factory first so I understand your philosophy. I have known the brand for a very long time, but I want to see you know how close to the core they have stayed over time. And so I went to Ravarino.

I saw this immense factory with these garment dyeing machines and the recipes. But how do you treat cotton in order to get this exact color red? How do you treat polyester to get the exact same color red? And people in lab coats with all kinds of flasks and testing out recipes and temperatures. This is really interesting because this is such an honorable way of making products. It’s something very unique still in Europe because a lot of this has been outsourced, has been simplified, but these guys have stayed true to their principles of color dyeing, etc. 

The second thing that I did was an analysis about the brand itself. It’s interesting that in a time where we’re talking about gender neutrality, you have a brand that was clearly more or less kind of designed for men but is also worn by women. It actually stands for confidence rather than male or female. You don’t get seduced almost to do a kind of female line, you stick again to your principles. And that’s really difficult. How do you stick to your principles if you know that if you deviate, you could get more sales. But at the same time, you might lose some of your core community that makes the brand. Those were my observations before I even started the design. 

Using Unconventional Materials

WW: From cork walls to compressed soil, the store features unconventional materials with unique properties. What inspired the use of these materials, and how do they contribute to the overall customer experience?

SB: We experimented with a number of materials, like the cork in the background downstairs. typically is a bit of a sandy color, but we found a cork that is cooked, kind of burnt, sand sprayed, and then we got the texture that we wanted. It’s a bit rough and a much nicer texture, I believe. The ceiling is made out of paper pulp. It has acoustic values but at the same time it gives the ceiling a bit of an almost natural stone feeling.

These other worlds are around earth. Again, a way of treating something that is very typical, just a kind of clay, but as if it’s layers of the earth. In some cases, we try to use the same approach for something very ordinary. The cork as a material is very ordinary. Clay is very ordinary. But how can we twist it and shape it in such a way that it tells a bit more of a story? That was basically the approach—the design philosophy. This is not so much about materiality, but about journey.

“This is not so much about materiality, but about journey,”

Samir Bantal

We wanted to have a first area where people are introduced to the brand. Downstairs you have a smaller niche and there’s this collaboration piece with Modou Dieng Yacine. Every area in the store needs to function as an altar, as someone who doesn’t know the brand, for example, needs to be as welcomed as a person who knows the brand immediately and has been following it for a very long time. How do you stay true to that message? That’s something that speaks to the blending of tradition and modernity. 

Merging the Historic with the Contemporary

WW: The store is housed in a traditional Haussmann-style building but incorporates cutting-edge design elements. How did you navigate the challenge of merging contemporary aesthetics with historical architecture?

SB: It should not be too purist about the modern but also not be too purist about the heritage, because they can actually be united. And they should be united because that’s the way it is in a city like Paris. So we have a bit more natural elements here, where in other stores we would have maybe a bit more on the metal side or on the stone side.

I think it’s a balance. It’s testing out what works. But at the same time, I think the beauty of the Parisian heritage is that it actually can accommodate a lot of modernity. And that is also what makes the conversation really interesting between the both. You can still have this facade that breathes the heritage, but challenges you to actually do something modern.

WW: The use of recyclable aluminum and energy-efficient designs reflects a sustainable approach. How important is sustainability in the retail projects you undertake, and how was it prioritized in this collaboration?

SB: Very, very important. I wanted to reduce the use of single-use plastics. A lot of the materials that we use are either recycled fabrics, carpets, metal that can be recycled, aluminium that is recycled, or paper that has been recycled to make the ceiling. It’s a paper pulp and it’s treated, so that you can spray it with a binding material and therefore it has an incredibly strong acoustical value. The same thing with the cork, which also has the ability to absorb humidity. It’s a pure, natural product. We didn’t add any chemicals to it. You can actually rip it off and recycle it if you want. I think it’s also part of something that happened in architecture a lot in the past couple of years. 

When you build this kind of space, you think that, let’s say in 10 years from now, you’re going to redo it. So that means that you can reuse the elements. I think part of the beauty of architecture is that a lot of it can actually be reused, whether it’s in a different way or whether it turns into something new, like a product or furniture. 

“I think part of the beauty of architecture is that a lot of it can actually be reused,”

Samir Bantal

That’s the agility of architecture. It wasn’t designed in that specific way, but there is an advantage in the delicate context of a heritage building that makes you think twice or three times about if we need to pull this out or if we need to recycle this, how easy would it be? And that actually is a simple driving factor. All these panels, you can take them off, there’s a substructure, and then you have the concrete. And the steel you can recycle.

Fostering Deep Interactions through Design 

WW: The concept emphasizes creating spaces for community engagement. How does the design foster deeper interactions between the Stone Island brand and its customers, both physically and emotionally?

SB: What happens a lot with brands over time is that they start to get adopted by a certain demographic or a certain group. In some cases, that group might scare off other groups. If you look at most of the brands, as soon as one group adopts it, the other group starts to back off a bit. Here, they continue to live side by side. That to me is super strong communication. 

Let’s say this wall of displays, we do small displays, not huge displays, as a way to tell the story for a person who doesn’t know the brand. These snippets of behind the scenes tell a bit the story and the background of, say, how do you get from a leather that is typically used in car seats to a jacket? It’s almost never done to use this in fashion, but why not? It has certain qualities that other forms of leather don’t have. Why wouldn’t you use it? 

WW: With the Paris flagship as a model, how do you see the future of retail design evolving, especially for brands that prioritize innovation, storytelling, and community-driven experiences?

SB: A while ago, during COVID, a lot of people had whole theories that no one will go to shops anymore. As soon as the shops opened up everyone ran to them. They wanted to see it. They want to feel it. So rather than replacing physical stores, you see a very interesting new field opening—how do you connect online and offline better? How do you make that more seamless connection between what is sold online to what you can actually see inside the store? I think that with new forms of technology, with new forms of media that have democratized storytelling in a way, you’ll start to see that the customer will be part of that storytelling.

“You’ll start to see that the customer will be part of that storytelling,”

Samir Bantal

Rather than just being a consumer, the customer also will start to be part of that storytelling. Already you see people making their reviews, explaining why this heritage piece was such a unique thing in history. People start to talk about the brand almost as if they were talking about the Mona Lisa. This is something that you can not always control. But you have to identify it, observe it, and then see how that can actually benefit your process of storytelling. I think that’s also a constant challenge with people who really come from retail, for them I realize it’s really about numbers and driving sales. For me it’s about how we can have that other part of the storytelling be communicated through a physical space.