How to date Stone Island: badge and article number
The edge of the sleeve badge dates a Stone Island item at a glance: green until 1999, black from 2000. This guide also explains how to read the article number and what the fabric names mean.
In this guide
A Stone Island item can be dated in two places: the edge of the badge on the sleeve and the article number on the care label.
This guide covers both: the badge on the sleeve and the article number on the wash label. Between them, an item can usually be placed within a single season.
The badge and what its edge shows
Stone Island was founded in 1982 in Italy by Massimo Osti, who had already created C.P. Company. The logo is a compass rose, taken from the wind rose used on marine charts. It is embroidered on a woven patch and buttoned to the left sleeve.
The detail that matters for dating is the border of that patch.
| Badge edge | Period |
|---|---|
| Green edge stitching around the patch | From the earliest years through to Autumn/Winter 1999 |
| Black edge stitching | From 2000 onward |
Two later badge variants are worth recognising, because they are deliberate rather than faded. The Ghost badge is tonal, rendered in the same colour as the garment it sits on. The Shadow Project badge is black on black, introduced in 2008 for a separate performance line. Neither is a sign of wear.
The badge is designed to be removable
The patch is attached with buttons and not stitched down. That is the original design, not a modification. It was made removable so the garment could be worn without the marking.
The practical consequence is that a missing badge on an otherwise correct item is not automatically a warning sign. Missing or mismatched buttons are a different matter, because those are part of the garment. The button pair on the sleeve should be present. The fabric under the patch should not be pierced by anything other than the original fittings.
The article number
Every item has an article number, printed on the wash label inside the garment and repeated on the swing tag when the original tag survives. It is usually written after the abbreviation ART.
The first two digits carry the season. The rule is straightforward.
- An even number is a Spring/Summer collection.
- An odd number is an Autumn/Winter collection.
- The number rises by one each season, so by two each year.
With one anchor point, the rest is arithmetic. The anchor used consistently across specialist references is 70 for Spring/Summer 2019, which makes 71 Autumn/Winter 2019. Stone Island has not published the key itself, so the table below is the reading the collector community has settled on and not an official chart. Counting back two per year gives the following.
| First two digits | Season |
|---|---|
| 70 / 71 | Spring/Summer 2019 / Autumn/Winter 2019 |
| 66 / 67 | Spring/Summer 2017 / Autumn/Winter 2017 |
| 60 / 61 | Spring/Summer 2014 / Autumn/Winter 2014 |
| 50 / 51 | Spring/Summer 2009 / Autumn/Winter 2009 |
The digits after the first two describe the line, the garment category and the specific style and fabric. Those are useful to a specialist and not needed to date an item.
Older items can carry a longer article number in a different format. The season rule above does not transfer to it, so no date is read into such a number.
The fabric names are part of the record
Stone Island names its fabrics. Those names are more informative than the word jacket. Names that appear on Stone Island items include the following.
| Name on the item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Micro Reps | A tightly woven, densely constructed fabric in nylon and polyester. It is structured rather than soft. |
| Soft Shell-R with PrimaLoft | A bonded soft shell with a synthetic insulation layer. It is warm without down and keeps its warmth when damp. |
| Sherpa-Lined Hooded | A hooded jacket with a pile lining. The bulk sits inside, so the flat measurements understate how the item wears. |
| Belted Field | A field jacket with a waist belt. |
These names are worth reading before comparing two jackets that look similar in photographs.
What happens before an item is added to the store
Each item is inspected, authenticated, cleaned and measured before it is added to the store. Each step is described in How leverene works. Prices are set per item, up to 80% below the original retail price.
Related reading and collections
The wider brand background is in the Stone Island guide. The technical vocabulary shared across outdoor brands is covered in Gore-Tex, down and DWR. Choosing the size by its measurements is explained in the Stone Island size guide.
The current range is in Stone Island, split into Stone Island men's clothing and Stone Island women's clothing. Related collections: jackets and vests and high-end designer clothing.
Items can be returned within 30 days.
