2018 has been an interesting year, to say the least. Streetwear has further penetrated the fashion space in ways never imagined possible. In March, a young artistic director took over at venerable Louis Vuitton following on the heels of the successful collaboration between LV and Supreme. Speaking of Supreme, they won the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award. Most interesting is that fashion house Celine is planning to adad a drop system similar to that of Supreme's. Guess they enjoy lines spanning multiple blocks and people camping out the night before!
What seems to be the trend is that gatekeepers of fashion aren’t the same, and a new generation of designers—ones who have no formal training, but know exactly what to sell and how to sell it—are dominating the market. Designers like Abloh (Louis Vuitton), Jerry Lorenzo (Fear of God), Kim Jones (Nike), Ronnie Fieg (Kith), and John Elliott have heavily impacted the fashion industry and the way guys dress today. Now, plenty of other brands and companies are aggressively trying to find ways to draw in millennials, the generation with the most spending power, according to a report by Forbes.
Here's my picks for the best street style brands of 2018 (so far).
Louis Vuitton
The pandemonium surrounding last year’s Supreme x Louis Vuitton mega-collaboration would have been impossible for the French fashion house to replicate. They've a fresh, young artistic director. The hype train can’t stop moving for too long.
Fear of God
Part of Fear of God’s success this year has come thanks to the brand’s fifth collection. Celebrities, hype kids, and general stylish guys can’t get enough of the flannels, satin coaches jacket, denim, and drawstring track pants. They've also kept the momentum going by releasing more footwear, special collaborations with top retailers like SSENSE and The Webster, and a spin-off line called ESSENTIALS. They're working on the sixth collection, set to drop late this year and are playing at women's footwear too. Rumors abound that there will be a Nike x Fear of God collab coming too - although Supreme already has a Nike collab inked and is coming. The rest of the year and especially 2019 is about to get real interesting.
Helmut Lang
Helmut Lang is an established fashion brand. It sort of died of in the late 90's but a new crop of young, fresh designers and artistic director have breathed life back into the brand. It has been heavily co-signed by young, cool millennials and A-list celebrities like A$AP Rocky, Kanye West, and Solange, the latter two of which appeared in the brand’s photo collab with Exactitudes. Through designs and unique digital projects, like its Pre-Fall 2018 cheeky ‘90s dating campaign, it's a brand to watch again.
Nike
Footwear will always be the frontrunner at Nike, but the brand’s efforts to turn out killer apparel are not going unnoticed. With a steady stream of collaborators and an appetite for sports-infused streetwear, 2018 has been the perfect storm for Nike’s more fashion-forward work.
John Elliott
For the last six years, John Elliott has been the uniform for guys who want basics—hoodies, jeans, T-shirts, bomber jackets, etc.—that are wearable enough, but also still interesting enough that they’re not just Gildan hoodies. This year, the American sportswear designer continued to build on his tried-and-true aesthetics. For instance, the Fall/Winter 2018 collection included basketball shorts in seven-wale corduroy and a paint-cracked leather jacket.
Elliott also has new iterations of the John Elliott x NikeLab Vandal Highs. More recently, the brand released a sustainable capsule for Selfridges, a line of elevated essentials crafted from organic or recycled textiles and processed with various mud and charcoal dyes. The most buzzworthy drop, though: the John Elliott x Nike LeBron Icon, first worn by James ahead of Game 4 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.
Balenciaga
Calling Balenciaga, the fastest growing label at parent company Kering, fashion’s most popular parody doesn’t give the brand its due. We’re told that fashion is never truly about the clothes, but instead the emotional response the garments are supposed to draw out of us. Well Demna Gvasalia’s designs elicit a response—but it’s less a gasp of delight and more a confused head tilt. In 2018, we’ve seen Gvasalia and his band of Balenciaga loyalists turn the tumorous Triple S into the new gold standard for chunky sneakers, bring ironic ’90s dragon graphics back, make Matrix-like sunglasses mainstream again, and vault a $1,300 “T-shirt shirt” to viral fame. You have every right to deny the clothes themselves, but the impact? That’s undeniable. —Skylar Bergl
Supreme
oward the tail end of 2017, Supreme was suddenly being used in the same sentences as the word “billions.” Now, in 2018, the stock of the biggest brand in streetwear stock has long been waning with OGs, but a new wave of buyers has only boosted the business of red box logos. Collaborations with the usual suspects continue: Stone Island, Clarks, Undercover, and Levi’s have all come through in 2018. However, recent surprises show that Supreme still has something fresh up its sleeve, like the Rimowa collaborationthat made waves and further proved the connection between streetwear and luxury. While the headlining CFDA Award victory feels more like an attempt to cash in on cool, the spotlight on Supreme isn’t going anywhere. —Skylar Bergl
Kith
Since Ronnie Fieg launched Kith back in 2011, the brand has become an indomitable streetwear empire that created a unique space for itself within the fashion industry. Kith has cemented its reputation for making even the most impossible collaborations (Coca-Cola and Bergdorf Goodman, amongst them) happen and offering accessible apparel that appeals to everyone from LeBron James (a big supporter, and collaborator, of Kith) to the kids who lineup outside one of its flagship stores. Even Bill Clinton, (yes, that Bill Clinton) has found himself walking through Kith’s doors in Manhattan. All while staying authentic to the everyday sneakerhead.
This year has been another solid year for Kith. It had some of the most sought after collabs, ranging from its latest capsule with Bergdorf Goodman—modeled by Hollywood icon Ray Liotta—to a signature sportswear collection with Champion. In May, Fieg and his team also dropped their Mitchell & Ness line—which included everything from basketball shorts to matching warm up jackets and pants—and an accompanying campaign that featured NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson.
It’s wild to think that just seven years ago, Fieg transformed Kith from a way of giving his collaborations a brick-and-mortar space into a full-fledged brand. Now, he continues to infiltrate various sectors—men’s, women’s, kids, and even food (Kith Treats)—and fanbases. The wilder thing is, we’re only halfway through the year, and if you know Fieg at all, this is just the beginning. —
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