Stone Island's tactile show

Stone Island turned a disused swimming pool at Capsule Plaza into a Milan Design Week installation built around touch, not just display. (wallpaper.com) The project opened during Milan Design Week 2026, which runs from April 20 to April 26, and Stone Island said the installation was developed with the Milan interior design studio NM3. (stoneisland.com, wallpaper.com) Stone Island centered the space on one outerwear model shown in six fabric versions: Tela Resinata, Nylon Prismatico-TC, Raso Gommato, David-TC, Crinkle Reps NY, and Panno. All six were presented in the same dark grey shade, “piombo,” so visitors could compare surface, weight, and finish material by material. (wallpaper.com, stoneisland.com) That format tracks with Stone Island’s long-running pitch that fabric comes first. Wallpaper* reported that the installation refers back to “No Seasons,” a Massimo Osti concept first introduced in the late 1980s and run through 1994, while Stone Island’s own site dates the original project to 1989-1994. (wallpaper.com, stoneisland.com) The brand has used Milan Design Week for this kind of material-storytelling before. In 2024, it staged a “Prototype Research” exhibition tied to a 100-piece series that pushed experimental fabric development, and design director Silvio Rivetti said Stone Island’s creative process still starts with the cloth itself. (wallpaper.com) This year’s installation also widened into programming. Stone Island said the public schedule at Via Achille Maiocchi 8 included a Lyst panel on April 22, an NM3 and Kaleidoscope discussion on April 24, and DJ sets on April 25 and April 26, with sound by Friendly Pressure: Studio One. (stoneisland.com) NM3’s role fit the fair’s design-first setting. Wallpaper* identified the studio as a Milan practice founded in 2020 by Francesco Zorzi, Nicolò Ornaghi, and Delfino Sisto Legnani, and the same publication has featured NM3 elsewhere in this year’s design-week coverage. (wallpaper.com, wallpaper.com) Fashion brands have become more visible inside the fair’s cultural calendar, not just its party circuit. Wallpaper* listed Miu Miu’s Literary Club among the week’s headline events, with talks scheduled from April 22 to April 24 at Circolo Filologico Milanese. (wallpaper.com, wallpaper.com) Stone Island’s contribution was more tactile than theatrical: one jacket, six technical skins, a pool emptied of water, and a room set up for people to handle the difference. The installation stays open through April 26 as the brand folds design, music, and fabric research into one Milan stop. (wallpaper.com, stoneisland.com)