Grime: it’s a funny old name for a box-fresh sneaker, much less Stone Island’s first full foray into the field. But then it refers to the genre of music rather than the state of the shoe. Emerging in the early 2000s, grime fused the high-tempo breakbeats of jungle, dancehall and UK garage to a particularly British take on hip-hop, pushing the local vernacular to the foreground. From an underground scene, it spread through club nights and pirate radio broadcasts. But then Grime is still a left-field moniker for a sneaker, until you consider Stone Island’s involvement in the movement.

The beats and accents were different, but what grime took from American hip-hop was the role of storytelling, with pioneers such as Kano, Lethal Bizzle and Wiley using it as a platform to document urban life. And style, as in what people wore, was a big part of this. “Be serious, you wouldn’t last an hour in my shoe,” says Dizzee Rascal on his 2003 debut, before revealing, “It’s an Air Force 1.”

Stone Island didn’t make shoes back then, of course. But had it done so, no doubt they would be part of the conversation. The brand was there, integral to the scene – Dizzee’s erstwhile mentor Wiley even namechecks the label as a symbol of success on the streets. And the “Stoney” badge remains a part of grime’s recent revival; it was there in 2019 on Dave’s shoulder when the south London rapper followed in the footsteps of Dizzee to collect a Mercury Prize.

Grime, Stone Island’s new talisman, is perhaps closer to Nike’s running shoes of the mid-1990s and 2000s, rather than its iconic, Dizzee-endorsed basketball sneaker. It is, however, very much its own piece, mixing durable (and, in this instance, brightly coloured) canvas with rubber midsoles as deftly as the best Y2K producers with FruityLoops.

But it wasn’t just grime where Stone Island gained a foothold. Not long after the company’s formation in 1982, the compass rose became symbolic of the football terraces. As the 1980s spilled into the 1990s, that link to youth culture continued into the rave scene. It was there again when Britpop stormed the charts. In 2017, when thieves made off with Mr Liam Gallagher’s personal effects, prised out of his hotel room while he played his set at Glastonbury, it was the loss of his trademark Stoney parkas that the former Oasis frontman fumed over.

The world of sneakers seems like an obvious rostrum for a brand of Stone Island’s technical and innovative prowess. So, it is perhaps surprising that its moves in the market have so far been limited to tentative collaborations with New Balance. Finally stepping out on its own, the label has its long cultural heritage to draw on. Sure enough, these first three models off its production line tap into the three respective scenes they’re named after. Alongside Grime, the pleasingly retro shapes of Rock and Football, too, capture their respective eras, employing supple leather and suede in a form that feels at once excitingly new and strangely familiar.

It could be that Stone Island was biding its time until it got it right, which, knowing the brand, sounds about right. That badge is enough to get a foot in the door, but these three shoes offer something more – a glimpse into the future.