Abstract

Stone Island is an Italian family business operating in the luxury apparel sector and it has been growing in revenue and profitability by leveraging its unique market position based on continuous product and process innovation. The family that owns the company and the brand was one of the most significant in the history of European textile industry. The history of Stone Island brand is more recent; the brand has already developed a loyal base of addicted customers that have identified its unique positioning strategy, still not imitated by the competitors. Product and process innovation and the selection of high quality raw materials are at the origin of the value creation and represent features that distinguish the brand and its products. This case study focuses on Stone Island's positioning strategy that can be defined as law breaking if compared with the other players of the market and the brand's reputation for innovation.