Whether your wardrobe is full of Stone Island's rarest and best pieces over the years or you're looking to buy for the first time, you've probably thought about the question on everyone's mind...is it authentic ?

“IS THIS PRODUCT AUTHENTIC”"

We are more than ever asked to authenticate articles. This is the million pound question that can make or break your purchase. As Stone Island has become increasingly popular around the world, the brand's popularity has unfortunately attracted the attention of counterfeiters who have flooded the market with low-quality replicas. The first fake Stone Island items were easily recognizable (we're sure you've seen the memes on the internet with the horrible flat badges and distorted compass logos), but over time the quality improved and it is now more difficult than ever to spot a counterfeit.

 

IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...

..so it probably is. That's the quick answer. But we want to help you authenticate items for your peace of mind. So follow the simple steps in this guide and you will soon see how easy it is to authenticate Stone Island!

STEP 1. VERIFICATION OF THE CERTILOGO

 

WHAT IS CERTILOGO.COM ?

Your new best friend... It's an authenticity verification service connected to multiple luxury brands to authenticate designer items. It is often considered the gold standard for authentication and will verify your Certilogo against the brand's direct database. You can check your Stone Island Certilogo here.

HOW TO USE IT

If your Stone Island item has Certilogo, open your phone's camera and point it at the QR code. This will open a browser tab connecting you to the Certilogo site and you will be guided through a series of questions followed by the authenticity result.

You will first need to indicate whether you are checking out the item before or after purchasing. Select "After" if you already have the item on hand. Checking before purchasing is extremely difficult if you don't have the item in hand as you will be asked to upload photos of different angles of the labels.

Next, you will be asked where you found the product. If you purchased it in store, select "In store". If you purchased it new from an online retailer, you can select "Online." If you bought the item second hand, it is best to select "It's a gift". This is because online marketplaces such as Depop, eBay and Vinted are not included in the list of recognized retailers, as are smaller independent sellers.

Next, you will be asked to upload a photo of the label. You will then obtain an instant result on the authenticity of your Stone Island garment. Simple, no, but you still have to stay attentive....

THE RESULT OF THE CERTILOGO

If the result is "Genuine", then it is almost certain that the item is real (sigh of relief). However...we hate to tell you that there have been cases in the past where fake items have unfortunately been scanned as authentic. How is this possible When a new series of counterfeits hits the market, all products are produced with the same code. At first they may scan as genuine, but once everyone starts scanning their item, the Certilogo system recognizes that this code has been overused and the result then changes to fake. This is why you need to be aware of other ways to verify the authenticity of your item!!

If the result is "Anomalies", this means that the article could either be false, or that the Certilogo has been scanned by several people already. If you list on a marketplace and lots of people try to check if it's real, it will be flagged as overused Certilogo and this can damage the unique code. This is why you should ALWAYS cover your Certilogo when selling an item online and only give the Certilogo code when you have a sure sale.

If the result is "False", then the journey ends here... The item is extremely likely fake, miracles happen but we have never encountered a genuine item that was scanned as fake.

 

 

BUT DO ALL STONE ISLAND ITEMS HAVE A CERTILOGO? ?

Certilogo is a fantastic way to check authenticity, but we know smartphones and QR codes didn't exist in the 80s... So with a brand as old as Stone Island, not every item comes with a Certilogo label. Stone Island added Certilogo technology to their items in Spring/Summer 2014 as a way to combat the growing counterfeit market.

 

Does my item need to have a Certilogo The item number on your item's washing label will answer this question. At the end of this guide we have provided a cheat sheet with all the art numbers and the seasons they belong to. In summary, all art numbers starting with "60" should have a Certilogo..

If you have a Stone Island produced after SS'14 and there is no Certilogo present, then your item might be wrong. There are retailers who remove Certilogos from authentic items, but this makes it extremely difficult to identify if the items are authentic. We can't tell you what to do, but we strongly recommend that you avoid purchasing items that should have a Certilogo and have been removed. No matter what story the seller tells you, Certilogos are often removed to hide something. Instead, buy from transparent sellers like ourselves.

STEP 2. OTHER WAYS TO AUTHENTICATE STONE ISLAND

 

The authentication journey is not yet complete. Some old items (produced before 2014) do not have Certilogo and therefore cannot be scanned using certilogo.com, but we will explain this later... Whether you are very diligent or cannot use the scanner Certilogo, follow these simple steps to authenticate your item and help you get a good night's sleep.

ARTICLE NUMBER

A great way to check if a Stone Island is fake (but not necessarily authentic) is to look for the art number. This is an 8-9 digit code assigned to each specific Stone Island model, regardless of color and size. In the example below we have an authentic Stone Island Membrana Jacket with Art: 581540223. Google this number and you will see that the images in our item match the images provided by Google. The color doesn't matter, don't worry if it's different from yours, but the model should always match.

THE LAMY STAMPATO INTERIOR LABEL

This is an extremely popular interior label used on fake jackets. The only authentic Lamy cover stampato jacket is the Supreme x Stone Island collaboration with the floral print as shown below. It should not be present on other parts. These interior labels allow you to identify the particular material used by Stone Island. The jacket below is a Lamy velor hooded jacket. It has the wrong interior label and the Certilogo has been cut out. We can therefore conclude that the article is false. Below these images we have shown the real version with the correct name coming from an established online retailer.

WHAT IF MY CERTILOGO WAS CUT OUT ?

So there is a very good chance that it is a counterfeit. Some small retailers sell genuine items without the Certilogos to hide their supplier. When purchasing an item on marketplaces and from private sellers, we always recommend purchasing with the Certilogo intact. Although you may get a cheap price initially, eventually the lack of Certilogo seriously impacts the value and desirability of the item. Not only is there a chance that your item is fake, but it will be extremely difficult to sell in the future.

THE BAUMWOL LOW BLOW

You have a vintage item An easy way to spot a counterfeit, especially the famous corduroy shirts, is the incorrect spelling of Baumwol on the wash label. “Baumwol” means cotton in German, but on the counterfeits it says “Baunwol”, a small but crucial mistake that would never be made by a luxury brand! See below ::

TOO MANY

The infamous art number ending in 222. An example is 571540222. 99.9% of Stone Island jackets available online with art numbers ending in 222 are counterfeits. Some authentic jackets (e.g. Soft Shells) end in 22, but never 222. Always be suspicious if you have a jacket with a number ending in 222, as this could be counterfeit and you should use other methods to authenticate.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE SEWING

Grab your magnifying glass for this one...Stone Island has mastered sewing and all the stitches on the garments are perfectly straight and neat. They sew clothing wash labels in several ways, but one of the most common methods used is double rail interlock woven stitching - as we have shown in the picture below. This has been used on items since the 90s and fakes never reproduce it correctly. The example below shows 3 messy lines of stitching attached to a fake Certilogo, while the authentic version below features the clean interlock stitching that is perfectly aligned along the side of the jacket.

THE WASHING LABEL

The table below shows a selection of genuine Stone Island items and their wash labels, ranging from the 90s to 2022. Each of these is real and you can use this table to compare with your own items.

On authentic Stone Island items, often the art label will take on some color from the garment as it is attached before the final dyeing process is carried out. We can see this color transfer on at least 4 of the washing labels shown (for example, n1 is slightly pink and n7 is slightly blue).).

Over the years, Stone Island continues to update its wash labels for many reasons (anticipating counterfeits, advances in authentication and material technology, and supplier changes).

WELL DONE !

Now you should be able to authenticate your Stone Island item and spot any red flags to look out for. Spotting fakes can be a daunting task, but with these simple steps, you'll become an expert in no time. If in doubt, all items at NB08 have been authenticated by our experts and you can purchase your next item from us with complete confidence.