Despite its many inevitable abnormalities, 2021 will still be a breakout year for any number of brands currently waiting in the balance. Never has there been a year as hard to predict who they may be, but while the industry’s rotors sputter, designers of all shapes and sizes continue to push.
Below, we’ve recapped a few of our favorite brands that we think are poised for success in 2021.
Post-Imperial
If GQ’s two most recent cover shoots are anything to go by, Post-Imperial is certainly worthy of a top spot in American menswear. Founded back in 2012, the Nigerian-American brand originally honed its craft through menswear accessories like ties and pocket squares. In the years since, the brand’s offerings have expanded to include a range of garments stepped in traditional hand-dying techniques native to Southwest Nigeria.
“I was tired of seeing menswear fetishize nostalgia and the past. Why are we looking at old photos to create today?” founder Niyi Okuboyejo explained to Inside Hook. “It wasn’t that people were using old photos to create something new — they just wanted to recreate that past.”
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Paria Farzaneh
Over the past two years, one of New York City’s biggest menswear successes has undoubtedly been Emily Adams Bode’s eponymous brand which turns traditional American quilts into modern clothes. The brilliant, history-filled upcycling practice isn’t just unique to the chapter of American manufacturing, however. London-based fashion designer Paria Farzaneh has built her brand on discovery through Iran’s wondrous legacy of textile production.
Plant-based dyes made from pomegranate juice, saffron and turmeric are also common with Farzaneh’s designs that feature strong but familiar patterns — like colorful paisley pants. Check out our full profile on Instagram.
Graziano and Gutierrez
Similar to Paria Farzaneh, Graziano and Gutierrez source their garments through cultural history. The recent design school graduates have tied their Mexican roots to modern workwear silhouettes. Sourced in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, the fabrics used in G&G’s pieces trace decades of traditional clothing design.
“One of our main goals is to provide a platform for the artisans' work so we always source the fabrics they are already making,” Gutierrez explained to Thread Caravan earlier this year.
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Country of Origin
Knitwear garments are practical and comforting pieces whether you’re adventuring outside or cozying up on the couch. For traditional craftsmanship within the knitting realm, you can’t overlook the United Kingdom — those grey, rainy skies have been inspiring some of the best cold-weather clothes for centuries.
Country of Origin is a brand built upon traditional — borderline outdated — knitting techniques that have been pulled and refined into the 21st century.
“We wanted to create something that was a reaction to fast fashion – an antidote to fast fashion,” co-founder Ben Taylor explained to Drapers. “[The brand’s founding] was around the time of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013, and we wanted to make something that had full transparency in how we produced it, and who made it.”
COO’s knits are artisan pieces with contemporary design and sourced with ethics in mind. Check out our full profile on Instagram.
3sixteen
In recent years, the philosophy of “buy better, buy less” has become a de facto tagline for people looking to balance retail consumption with the realities of fashion’s environmental impact. Few categories of clothing embody an ethos of durable investment sewn into its history like denim.
Over the past decade, 3sixteen has coasted atop changing trend lines to continue serving its customers some of the most lasting garments the industry has to offer. Sourced in Okayama, Japan, the brand’s raw denim are pieces that give the gift of unique personalization through the fabric’s intimate aging properties.
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