West London native brand Trapstar has been taking the world by storm.
Its tracksuits and jackets are loved by rappers and footballers both here, and overseas, and its products have famously been sported by Rihanna.
Recently, the brand has received investment from Jay-Z: being the first fashion label to be signed to his Roc Nation label, they have also collaborated with Blade Brown, viral rapper Central Cee, and created exclusive merchandise for Dave's new album (Tong, 2019)(Phillips, 2019)(Trapstar London, 2021)(Trapstar London, 2022a)(Trapstar London, 2022b).
Mancunian brand Drama Call is known for its bright coloured "drama" tracksuits and hats, and for recreating famous logos found around the UK, whilst still being recognised as being of the brand. The brand is also known for its pledge to 'spread awareness on the "DRAMA" we deal within today(')s society', and to "speak up and take action on any injustice". This has taken form in t-shirts relating to the Free Palestine and Black Lives Matter movements (in the brand's signature design style), being sold with 100% of the profits being donated to Human Aid, the Nationwide Bail Fund (to support protesters) and "Reclaim The Block"(Mohammed-Ali, 2022)(Dramacall, 2020)(Dramacall, 2021).
Drama Call's most recent collaboration was with Manchester rapper Aitch (Dramacall, 2022).
London-based unisex brand Named Collective is known for its unique designs, high quality, size inclusivity, and sense of community.
It is one of the few streetwear brands that have a focus on women (with Trapstar for example, only recently creating a women's collection).
Named Collective considers itself to be an ethical brand, with its values rooted in sustainability, kindness, and community (NAMED collective, 2022a)(NAMED collective, 2022b)(NAMED collective, 2022c).
Founders: Che Shariff, Ellis Gilbert, and Harry Clements
The elusive Soho Yacht Club is a relatively new, London-born brand that despite rarely making drops or posting on social media, has developed a cult following and widespread positive reputation. If anything the brand's lack of activity has only fueled the fire of its current success and nicheness.
The brand is known for its unique hats and tracksuits, as well as its ethos of giving back to the community. With its slogan of 'do something nice today' (sohoyachtclub, 2021), the brand has engaged in a wide range of collaborations (including one with the infamous Corteiz), and has used the profits from its drops to help feed school kids during the holidays and build a "bereavement garden" in a primary school in West London (sohoyachtclub, 2022) (sohoyachtclub, 2021b) (sohoyachtclub, 2022b) .
Most recently the brand collaborated with Foot Patrol (owned by JD Sports) for World Book Day, encouraging people to drop off their old books (to be donated to Clifton Primary and St Marks Primary School) at the Foot Patrol store, in exchange for an exclusive t-shirt (Footpatrol, 2022) (sohoyachtclub, 2022c).
Corteiz is the brand that everyone is talking about right now. Even if you don't know it by name, you have definitely seen its Alcatraz prison logo around London (and the UK). The brand was created in West London in 2017 by Clint (close friend of Soho Yacht Club founder Ellis Gilbert).
Corteiz has a famously loyal fan base (unusual in the modern day), due to the brand and its owner's authenticity, exclusivity, community focus and unfiltered hatred of resellers.
The brand is most known for being endorsed by Virgil Abloh, being consistently sported by Central Cee, and for organising the "Great Bolo Exchange" - when the brand encouraged hundreds of people to trade in their down jackets (in good condition) from established brands like Supreme, Moncler, The North Face and Stussy, for 50 of Corteiz's new "Bolo" jackets. The brand then revealed that the £16,000 worth of jackets that were given, were donated to St. Lawrence’s Larder; a charity that aids homeless people (Chitrakorn, 2022) (Forte, 2021) (GRM DAILY, 2022) (Mohammed-Ali, 2022) (Olaoya, 2022).
Unknown London was founded in 2016, it's now known for its rhinestone tracksuits and grunge style streetwear, but the brand actually started because the owners "noticed a gap in the market for well-priced distressed earth-tone hoodies". Unknown is another brand valued for their authenticity, with the owners of the brand putting the brakes on a collaboration with Kangol after they, "tried to force us to stock the brand in Sports Direct" (Amiscua, 2021)(Phelan and Jay, 2020). The brand's most recent collaboration is with Ed Hardy.
The brand is currently gaining traction from its Unknown UK pop-up road tour, with a branded Unknown London van travelling to a UK city each day (from the 11th to the 16th of April) with a limited amount of stock available inside the van. At some cities the pop-up van was accompanied by live music, DJing, and refreshments; with the brand claiming that queues had started at 3am (despite the pop-up starting at 12) (unknownuk, 2022a)(unknownuk, 2022b)(unknownuk, 2022c)(unknownuk, 2022d)(unknownuk, 2022e).
Stitch is a small streetwear brand founded by Clouder, who describes their brand as being "more of a project" that allows them to share their art.
Stitch's founder has spoken about previously wanting to be an animator and then deciding to use their character designs to start a brand, saying that, "nobody was making what I wanted so I ... made it myself".
The brand aims to extend into furniture, womenswear and posters and it has recently had a successful pop-up in London with fellow anime-inspired streetwear brands; Die-ga and Goni (stitch.lc, 2022a)(stitch.lc, 2022b)(stitch.lc, 2022c).
London-based brand Jehu-cal is known for its stunning 90s-style imagery, its "Till Forever" slogan, and its self-made owner.
The brand and founder's name (though he now goes by "Emay") means "God is able". Emay describes his brand as being, "the lovechild of streetwear and luxury", with Jehucal offering tailored pieces and homeware as well as traditional streetwear pieces. Jehucal's products sell out quickly, with its values of luxury quality at attainable prices and sustainability gaining the loyalty of its followers. The founder's casual way of communicating with its customers makes the brand feel more genuine and accessible, with its tracksuits being described as providing, "more comfort than your ex ever could". The brand being created out of Emay's uni room, whilst he worked part-time and finished his degree, is the success story that we all dream of (Davey, 2021)(Jay, 2020)(Jehucal, 2022)(Mohammed-Ali, 2022b)(New Wave, 2022)(Wonderland, 2021).
Sources
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