The Stone Island Soundsystem Is as Engineered as Its Outerwear
Stone Island, a label obsessed with cutting-edge fabric technology and innovative production methods, was never going to hold a series of listening events using regular speakers. This Italian technical fashion brand had to find speakers as highly engineered as its signature outerwear.
A company that can provide audio engineering to meet Stone Island’s specifications is Friendly Pressure, a London-based specialist speaker studio that has previously decked out venues such as Bradley Zero and Nathanael Williams' listening bar MOKO and created a bespoke loudspeaker system for the British Library.
Open now as part of Milan Design Week, Friendly Pressure: Studio One features a pair of in-house designed speakers integrated with unity horns and subwoofers engineered by Bosco Taylor.
The modular sound system sits at the front of a dark black-walled room, along with an adjustable console designed in collaboration with Fables Collective.
On the beige carpeted floor, design stools by Andu Masebo, and modular couches by ANDA_BA allow you to sit back and listen to a curated programme of events by Stone Island and Friendly Pressure.
Throughout the week, Errol Anderson and Shivas Brown’s collaborative experience, A Loose Ting, kicks off proceedings at midday before DJ performances and panel talks commence. These include a Victory Lap Radio cypher featuring fledgling UK rap talent, a conversation with Tommy Walwark (owner of London-based record label Nervous Horizon), and a C2C Festival takeover to close out the week.
A large portion of the week focuses on championing the most exciting music coming out of London, something Shivas Howard Brown, owner of Friendly Pressure, is passionate about. “I've built my sound system with my ears, heart, and hands to give the best presentation of the sound of London in a pair of speakers because that's what I believe I embody,” he previously told Highsnobiety.
Now, together with Stone Island, he’s showing the Milanese design week crowd what London sounds like.
