Stone-Dri: 35 Years On…

We’re all familiar with the fashion big-boys who, since the luxury of the concept of legacy has started to be highly prized (i.e. since the onslaught of fast fashion), have turned to touting their heritage to boost sales even further/ensure they’re recession-proof (Burberry, Vuitton, Farah, Bally etc.), but it’s not all that often we hear about fashion’s comebacks…

^ Salford’s Stone Brothers

Stone-Dri, a Salford, Manchester-based brand was born in 1948, when the four Stone brothers banded together to revolutionise their father’s coat and costume manufacturing business. Starting off with a modest collection of outer- and rainwear, Stone-Dri went from strength to strength during the 50s, eventually expanding into a retail empire under the subsidiary company name of ‘The Direct Rain Coat Company’. The brand continued to produce until 1973 when it was bought out and eventually fizzled out, subject – as all labels are – to the fickleness of fashion.

Now, though, some 35 years after the brand’s last AW collection, owner Joel Brown unveils a fresh offering for AW 2011 which harks back to Stone-Dri’s heyday but doesn’t get stuck in the mud there. Attentive to the brand’s original signatures – utility, functionality, comfort and style, the revamped Stone-Dri’s AW11 collection blends waxed cottons with Italian wools in a spectrum of season-appropriate but far from drab colours.

^ Drayton black-hooded spray jacket (€95.20)

^ Milmoor charcoal sweatshirt (€72.80)

^ Eastway brown overhead jacket (€106.40)

If only all comebacks were this successful – looking at you Duran Duran…

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Shop Stone-Dri (they also do a range of polos and shirts) exclusively at ASOS Marketplace.