Streetwear is all about making a statement, comfortably. And in the past year, emerging streetwear designers with distinct points of view and a knack for luxurious finishes have proven the category’s range. From Advisory Board Crystals’s trippy nature-inspired designs to Thames’s preppy remixes, streetwear’s new guard is moving beyond the Supreme school of hoodies and hype.
With designers now prioritizing lifestyle concepts outside of clothing—from inclusive events to jewelry collections—streetwear is more diverse and dynamic than ever. To explore this range of new offerings, you needn’t look much further than pedigreed retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue to Harrods. Below, our pick of eight emerging streetwear designers to shop right now.
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Mr. Saturday
Image Credit: Mr. Saturday Founded by designer Joey Gollish in 2017, Mr. Saturday is a direct-to-consumer brand based in Toronto that recently opened its first storefront in the Canadian city. With a fan base that counts Nick Jonas and Lil Nas X, Mr. Saturday draws inspiration from nightlife subcultures. Iconography from NYC’s bygone Mudd Club featured in its spring 2021 collection while the FW21 lineup nods to Vile Bodies, Eveylyn Waugh’s satire of 1920s London partygoers, with unstructured tailoring and vintage details, such as bombers based on WWII trench jackets and hoodies emblazoned with chainstitch embroidery.
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Reese Cooper
Image Credit: Reese Cooper If you’re a fan of gorpcore, you’ll love Reese Cooper. The Atlanta-born designer launched his namesake menswear brand during Paris Fashion Week in 2018 and introduced womenswear in 2020. Cooper fuses outdoorsy staples with luxurious materials, such as Italian suede hiking boots, water-resistant cotton duck canvas work pants and utilitarian waxed cotton jackets for inclement weather—most of which are manufactured in Los Angeles and stocked at retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Mr Porter. Even more impressive: Reese Cooper dedicates a portion of its annual revenue to organizations including Create Now and Flint Kids.
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Keiser Clark
Image Credit: Keiser Clark From sports stars such as Dwayne Wade to wildly popular musicians like Zedd, Keiser Clark is casually worn by some of today’s biggest names. The Los Angeles-based label was launched in 2017 by Marc Keiser and Andrew Clark, beginning with one-off leather jackets. Keiser, the brand’s creative director, frequently draws inspiration from music and film. He describes his California-inspired fall collection as “Blade Runner meets Fleetwood Mac”. That translates to retro-inflected designs in desert hues: copper satin shirts, graphic puffer jackets sporting colors of the sun and riffs on the brand’s popular chevron knit cardigan-and-short sets.
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Advisory Board Crystals
Image Credit: Advisory Board Crystals Advisory Board Crystals has earned a devoted following for its eccentric range of tie-dyed tees and hoodies bearing trippy prints. This year alone, the streetwear label dropped collaborations with musician J.Balvin, puffer powerhouse Moncler and French bag maker Longchamp. Founded in 2016 by Heather Haber and Remington Guest, Advisory Board Crystals’ core collection offers a range of cozy sweats in earthy shades of brown, green and burgundy—a more muted alternated to its psychedelic designs.
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Thames MMXX
Image Credit: Thames MMXX Born from a partnership with Palace Skateboards in 2015, Thames MMXX started out as a uniform-inspired range of menswear from British skater, model and artist Blondey McCoy. Today, the brand continues to offer a remixed range of preppy staples such as chunky V-neck knits, striped rugby shirts and classic sweater vests. The label’s Anglo-infused jewelry, skateboards and bags (displaying heraldic crests, Princess Diana and more) wryly combine tradition with a streetwear attitude. Following its split from Palace in 2019, the brand’s bold releases continue to buck the status quo.
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Yony
Image Credit: Yony Founded in October 2020, Yony takes a more tailored approach to street style. Designer Johnny Schwartz draws inspiration from 1950s Americana and retro leisurewear: relaxed camp collar overshirts, cropped wide-leg pants and twill cardigans. Most of the brand’s products are made from elevated fabrics from Melton wool to Japanese flannel and, in an effort to be especially sustainable, the brand works to ensure that all designs made of internationally-sourced materials are produced in their country of origin.
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Tier
Image Credit: Tier New York-based Tier is following in Dapper Dan’s footsteps, making Black luxury items accessible to all demographics—as evidenced by the brand’s street-side runway show at this year’s Harlem Fashion Front Row. Co-founded in 2014 by Nigeria Ealey, Victor James and Esaīe Jean Simon, a trio whose history includes studies in fine arts and graphic design, the brand is best known for its unisex French terrycloth sweatsuits with subtle logo placements—which are beloved by Diddy and Usher. The brand also recently expanded into jewelry with a range of 18-karat gold-plated pendants and hoop earrings.
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Sondér
Image Credit: Sondér Oftentimes, less is more—even in streetwear. With Sondér, designer Dequan Walker provides minimalistic unisex pieces that make a sleek statement: monochrome varsity jackets, pastel waffle knit cardigans and sober topcoats. Launched in early 2021, the brand’s debut collection was inspired by racially charged events of last year. Titled “We See Us”, the collection makes a pointing of acknowledging those members of the black community that often feel “unseen”. Complex as those ideas are, Walker translates them into everyday apparel that is endlessly wearable.
