"One day some very special material arrived in the company, a thick tarpaulin of the kind used for trucks, red on one side, blue on the other. In order to transform it into an item of clothing, we put it into the washing machine and washed it for a long time with water and pumice to soften it, to tame it, so to speak. The first prototype was surprising, and so we decided to make six jackets out of that single piece of fabric, which we called 'Tela Stella,' and we gave the idea a name: Stone Island." Carlo Rivetti That was 1982. Since then the clothing company created by Bologna-born Massimo Osti, who trained as a graphic artist specializing in advertising, has become the symbol of research into fibers and fabrics as applied to innovative design. "Stone Island has a marine-like quality, it reminds you of the old waterproof jackets corroded by the water." These are the words of Carlo Rivetti, who came onto the scene in 1983 and purchased, along with the GFT, 50% of the company; later, in 1993, together with his sister Cristina, he bought all the stock. A constant study into the transformation and ennobling of fibers and fabrics leads to a discovery of materials and productive techniques never before used by the clothing industry, such as refractive or thermosensitive textiles, dyeing and special finishing treatments. In 2008 Carlo Rivetti took over the brand's creative management assisted by a design team.