Outerwear has one purpose. To protect us from the elements. From ski slopes to rainforests, trail running to mountain climbing, we don storm hoods and hiking boots to limit how far external factors impact our pursuit of the next adrenaline rush. But what if we altered our expectations? What if technology was used to craft garments that enable us to embrace our environments rather than endure them? Rules are meant to be broken, right? 

Few brands embody the spirit of innovation better than Stone Island, nestled in the crook between streetwear and technological experimentation, the Italian label has been an enduring icon of subculture since its inception in 1982. Beloved by sports fans, musicians and urban adventurers for its engineered modern separates, the brand’s compass patch has become a symbol of independence and its signature technical fabrics a uniform of working-class youths that are marginalised and commercialised in equal measure.  

In collaboration with photographer Alex Soroka, LN-CC takes a visual trip to one such subculture; the forgotten Gabber club movement of the 90s. We transport Stone island’s latest textile innovation to an imagined resurgence of the twentieth century hardcore techno scene. Defined by fast beats, distorted melodies, singular logos, shell sportswear and baselines of over 200 beats per minute, Gabber is visceral yet artificial, the product of computerised drum machines and technical fabrics.  

Equally, enhanced experience in Stone Island is made possible by extreme creativity, from Nylon Metal Flock to Ripstop, Watro and Weft, the label pioneers extreme research in fibres and textiles. With of Nylon Metal, a micro ripstop weave, Stone Island delivers an elaborate double garment dye process that provides a range of tones, intensities and colours. Fastenings are engineered to be coloured by the dye and garment interiors are resin-treated to achieve a mild wind and water resistance. These are clothes to be admired in, to sweat in, to explore in, to live in, to rave in.  

In nightclubs and warehouses, nylon outerwear remains an enduring essential. Shot ahead of a stark white backdrop and haloed by the mist of an overhead sprinkler, Nylon Metal becomes the new uniform of a Gabber. The sleek, almost iridescent, fabric is contorted by the arched limbs and tilted hips of a rhythm-seeking raver. Jacket gleaming, T-shirt sheer, water dripping in rivulets from the brim of low-slung baseball cap, clothing stops being a barrier and becomes a cocoon that both protects and elevates.