New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world, so it's only right that we cover New York in this Brands on the Map Series.
Before we get started, I do have a huge surprise for you…
UNDISCOVERED will be coming to New York for fashion week. I'm linking up with the good homies over at Epoc to host an event featuring a pop-up shop with the brands on the flyer and more, a panel discussion, and an invite-only cocktail hour to end the night. We wanted to give back by giving you access to some of the hottest emerging brands and educating you on topics from brand owners who have found success in their own journeys.
Be sure to pop out to that event to come see me, Epoc and a whole lot of brands, designers and more. It's gonna be lit. All details will be on our Instagram and you can DM me additional questions there too.
Kody Phillips
Ok, so the first brand / designer on the list is Kody Phillips. I believe his partner also works on the brand alongside him. I've been keeping up with him for a long time so this is someone I can fully validate in terms of being one of the best from NYC. Describing himself as a “pantaloons champion”, when it comes to making pants, it is truly Kody’s bag. Some of his signature pants include the Curve pants, his series of cargos and the poopy pants. Don't ask me about the name.
His recent drop of the 2.0 Double Knees is already gonna be a favourite I can tell. Staying on the topic of bottoms, the shorts are also one of his signature pieces and it's not hard to understand why when you look at its unique designs. Kody’s brand has a very utilitarian feel to it when you look at how the pieces are designed in a functional manner from the zips to pockets and additional hardware used at times. It seems military wear and workwear are some of the sources of inspiration for his designs. If you're looking for a brand not logo-focused but instead more orientated around shapes, patterns and silhouettes, the Kody Phillips is for you.
Brigade USA
The next brand we have is Brigade USA and for me, they're one of the brands I'm excited to cover the most. Something about the brand vibe and the whole cohesion of its branding just makes it stand out to me.
By brand cohesion, I'm talking about the colour palette, the photography and the designs. All of it comes together so well and there's consistency across the board from them. Brigade has a real streetwear vibe to it but it almost has like a mature feel to it where it’s not the new age streetwear we see, but more so the core, OG streetwear feel. I was a huge fan of their FW23 Collection which had some great pieces. I like how they gave a lot of sportswear items a knitwear makeover. Brigade was also responsible for the big sock campaign which featured this huge sock, 6ft long. Described also as a sleeping bag, it's made in NYC from Italian yarns.
It also features a zipper down the backside and comes with a custom mini laundry bag as the long staple yarns make it easy to wash and dry without ever losing its shape. Alongside its launch, they hosted a pop up and printed a massive sock outside on the pavement. The campaign imagery for it was also some of the best I saw from 2023. If you're looking for a brand with a real streetwear/NYC feel to it, Brigade is for you.
Hubane
If we’re talking about brands of the future, Hubane might be the kings of it. Everything Israel designs has that futuristic feel to it. The way I see Hubane is when you're wearing their clothes you're almost in a whole other world with different rules and concepts redefined by Israel who hand makes each garment, which is crazy.
What's also crazy is how clothing isn't his only bag. Hubane can go from accessories to footwear and more including both paintings and sculptures. It makes sense as Israel describes his work as Fine Art. Looking through his store is insane because it legit feels like walking through an art gallery looking at all these pieces. Israel decided how he started doing art at about 8 years old and he had both teachers and peers offer to buy his work. The contemporary designer is truly one of the most exciting figures rising out of New York and to see something completely different from the norm is always refreshing. I don't even know how to categorise the brand and I think that’s a good thing to have about your brand. Rightly so, the brand is no stranger to going viral with their pieces having routinely been seen on my explore page with their helmets, boots, eyewear and more. If loud pieces and something completely left from the norm is your style, then Hubane is the brand for you.
Stolen Arts
Now we have Stolen Arts, the kings of custom belts. Belts have been moving crazy for the past year or so especially when it came to embezzled belts with the standout buckles. Their celebrity portfolio is also crazy with Kai Cenat, Sexy Redd, Ice Spice, Gunna and more all having rocked some of the belts.
They've also been noticed by Complex and several athletes. I'm pretty sure he's also doing custom belts for a couple of people too. Recently, he's gonna viral for the strip-lympics belt seen on Kai who styled the pieces during the Olympics. Other significant belts include the AP belt, the Scream belt, Gengar belt, Hello Kitty belt, Betty Boop belt and more. It's insane how much the brand has grown, I was there when they were dropping the onyx belt which I ended up resharing, and seeing the feedback and engagement it got was crazy as it was all undoing in real time. The campaigns that go along with them are nothing short of crazy too, you can tell that the editorial side of things is taken serious by the brand and with belts like the ones they release, it's only right. If you're looking for crazy accessories to add to your fit, Stolen Arts is your brand.
Bravest
Next on the list, we have Bravest. They’ve had an amazing year in 2024 which really stemmed from last year with their first Bear Claw release in brown. This drop really gave them a huge push in brand growth and understandably so. Their product is innovative and well designed. It's something new. Not to mention we are living in a phase where mules are hot right now, so jumping on that hot wave with a unique design maximises the growth that comes with it. They also did great marketing and campaign rollout behind it, to really maximise the eyes and attention on it. After a few restocks of the brown colour, they pulled through with a white colourway and a black one all receiving their own crazy campaigns and rollouts.
There are allegedly other colours on the way too including a blue one. Another big area where the brand is thriving is with jerseys, when they dropped their Mary jerseys last year, they personally went down as some of the top kits of the year. They then went to drop additional colourways in June with new jerseys. Then in August, they released a whole range of new jerseys and these go crazy too, especially this one with the cow print. Bravest are now set to release a new foot clog which seems to be on a hulk type vibe. Absolutely insane. If their crazy footwear ideas are your style, Bravest is the brand for you.
Barriers
So the next brand, Barriers is one of the newer brands on the list and I've been meaning to cover them for a minute. Off rip, I can tell that black culture is the main theme across the brand, especially black history as I see significant, historical figures such as Malcolm X, Bob Marley and Muhammed Ali. The brand is heavily graphics based over a range of hoodies, t-shirts, sweatpants and shorts. The vibe again feels like that OG streetwear with tons of references to notable moments in black history.
When scanning their about us page, a lot of the inspirations are rooted in reggae music and Caribbean culture. One significant moment with the brand was their first shoe release in collaboration with Converse and they actually went in. it's so easy for people to go minimal on collabs but from the colours used to the laces to certain details and more, you can tell they really took their time with it. Even when you deep the story they had for it, showing your audience the idea behind your work is always appreciated and shows your brand has some sort of substance. If a brand with substance and an OG streetwear vibe to it is your style. Barriers may be for you.
OM New York
Now if you don't know about this next brand, I don't know where you've been because this brand popped off like crazy. Known for their skeleton mules, the brand's rise has come from people's admiration for their consistent deliveries of different styles and colourways of their famous mules. Seeing their rise has been incredible as I was able to see the release of the OG colour. Scrolling through their feed too, it's so sick to see all the different colours they released. It makes you really think about the different potential styles that we could see.
I think the cow print one may be the one for me but I love how they tapped into collabs after doing one with lemons on fire, an icon in the US streetwear scene. I rate how they haven't only stuck to the mules but also looked at expanding their product catalogue especially when they started out in hoodies and headwear. Their recent clothing drop was fire especially the double waisted jort and their Deer Camo Thermal Long sleeve. The zip up in collab with Lemons on Fire goes absolutely crazy but my eyes are really on these duffle bags, I need that. I also see them make the move into sportswear with both of their cleat releases. if you're looking for fly mules with a unique design, OM New York might be your guys.
Esenes
I'm deepening it, there's actually a lot of brands in here doing footwear correct and this next brand esenes is another one, possibly even the best one on here for it. They started out with mainly custom shoes and from what I know it's what gained a lot of eyes and attention and understandably so, I feel like they were one of the brands that really made an effort to bring something different in terms of design. I'm heavily messing with these ones. One of esenes big breakthroughs was the release of their bonehead shoes which resembled the Pokemon cubone.
If you remember the Pokemon Go era, this was a perfect time to release them and evidently the marketing for them was a no brainer. These came in brown, black, white and a wooden print. Their next mule was even crazier as they went on to introduce their eyeball mules. These are just crazy and we got so many colours released from them. I don't even know which goes the hardest but the white might get that top pick, the snake one though… replacing the OG fur texture with snake print was a chess move.
The brainiacs was another shoe in their bag and it went nuts. Seeing the details of it and the promo for it was so cool to see. Lastly, they about to release a new mule with moves me liquid in it which just goes nuts. They went viral with their Tabi Timbs and while Tabis in general aren't for me, this was another chess move after combining two hot footwear pieces into one.
They really got a whole series of hit for hit footwear on their hands, looking at it now, they might be some of the best when it comes to it for real. if you like their crazy footwear styles, this ones for you.
Das Yori
Das Yori is our next brand on here and they are truly one of the most unique on this list. I also think they're one of the newer ones. Their whole vibe and aesthetic are different. When it comes to product and design, they have a whole sportswear vibe to it with their tracksuits and additional pieces. It's their brand vibe though that really caught my eye, from the model picks to their poses, to the photography style and settings, you can tell this is something that has been picked out specifically, the creative direction behind it was fully intentional with an agenda to push a certain look for their ideal consumer. Even the pick of the models and the way they're styled with their pieces shows you the niche taste and what their ideal consumer both acts and looks like.
I really admire how they don't have a perfect feel to the brand and instead don't think too hard while also caring about their aesthetics. The pick of locations are very natural and random but is what works for them. The way their products are styled is careless but still well put together in a sense. It's effortless. Even though the brand is New York based, I see also see a strong Asian aesthetic over the brand so maybe they have roots in there too or it may just be a simple inspiration. The uniqueness of the brand really intrigues me so I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop. If you are into a more relaxed sportswear tye vibe, this one might be for you
Against Medical Advice
Last but not least, we got against medical advice and this brand should be way bigger than it is. The whole concept is inspired by the owner, woles’ nursing background. tapping into the medical world and biology is a unique source of inspiration as it's not common to see. the advantage is that Wole is able to talk about his real life experiences and things he’s learnt as a nurse and pour that into his clothing, now that can't be copied making it easy to be original. an extended part of his brand also talks about his African roots and black culture, just another unique concept that.
One thing I rate highly about Wole is how openly and in depth he talks about his design process, people seriously underestimate how much consumers actually love hearing about this. I love indulging in a brand's progress / process pictures coupled with a paragraph explaining their mindset behind everything. If you're into brands with substance and unique brand concepts, this may be one for you for real.
Before we end the video, let's get into some honourable mentions, we got:
Xwore - currently one of my favourite American brands right now who we also included in our brands to watch 2024 video
We got Who Decides War - a heavyweight when it comes to US streetwear ran by Ev Bravado and Tela Amore
Ghetto Friends - when it comes to the denim, they really doing it different and I've been in a season where I've been appreciating denim way more. I'll definitely be keeping eyes on them long term
Attachments Online - another relatively new brand on the list, the studded black denim drop and the pieces among it really caught my eye.
Dybbuk NY - the last honourable mention is Dybbuk and I had to put them in it for the way they been doing custom shoes, especially with the timbs and now the Asics.
That's pretty much all I had for the video and what brands you gotta know is doing their thing in New York. Now don't forget, me and Epoc are throwing an event in New York on September 6th.
There's gonna be a pop up shop with some heavyweight brands, a panel discussion with some big industry faces and a cocktail hour at the end. The panel and cocktail hour are invite only so if you're a friend in the States, hit me up and I got an invite for you. As for everyone else, pull through, come see us and shop with the brands at the pop up. It'll be dope to see you guys in person. Follow us on our socials too and I hope you enjoyed the video.
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