In 2019 the fashion industry claimed the end of streetwear. With the recent news of VF Corp buying SUPREME, 2020 has shown us that streetwear is here to stay — and profitable.
Streetwear is a relatively modern term that gained currency in the ’90s. A phrase used to describe casual street fashion encompassing many styles from hip-hop to punk rock. Now KPOP star Jackson Wang is also merging the Korean music industry in a new wave of streetwear for the new generation.
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Here are some of the best streetwear brands for men that you can check out.
SUPREME
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The OG streetwear brand that’s hit the mainstream is doing better than was ever expected when it first launched. Now being sold to VF Corps, the brand is expected to grow to $1 billion in annual sales.
The Streetwear giant Aimé Leon Dore loved by celebs drops several collaborations and limited edition collections throughout the year. The reason behind this is to prevent overbuying, a more sustainable approach to overproduction.
Istanbul based luxury streetwear brand brings modern East fashion to the mainstream. The brand only started with 30 printed t-shirts, a project which later garnered Aydin an invitation to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, and later Milan Fashion Week … and viola! Now the brand is stocked globally in major retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Harvey Nichols.
Like most sportswear brands, Italian label Kappa follows the trend of making way into street fashion. With multiple collaborations including as Juicy Couture, the brand knows how to stay relevant and trendy. Kappa is a global manufacturer of apparel, footwear, and accessories for sport and leisure.
PALACE, the British skateboard brand, started out only selling tees in a little shop, now it’s on a global scale and has partnered with some of the largest fashion brands from Polo Ralph Lauren to Moschino. Steady making the case for streetwear place in the industry.
Meet cultural commentary and streetwear label, Dutch Tulip Financial, aka DTF. In conjunction with the official launch of Dutch Tulip Financial last year, the brand also launched DTFpost, a podcast program. DTF’s main goal is to build a genuine connection and activate today’s youth through culturally relevant merch and information. The brand has partnered with multiple local brands based in New York from art to hospitality.
Founder Brendon Babenzian, to no surprise used to be an employee of SUPREME back in the day. Leaving to start his own line, Babenzian takes a preppier and more collegiate take on streetwear while incorporating those skater boy detailers learned from SUPREME.
Another OG in the streetwear scene, Stüssy is continuing to make a name for streetwear and its individual style. Although the brand has gone a different route and the original founder is no longer involved — Stüssy will always be one in the books of original streetwear giants.
Sportswear brands have been popularizing streetwear for years now, mostly through collaboration, and now collections of its own, Adidas has frontiered streetwear fashion and its place in the industry.
Named after the Paris equivalent to the Red Light District, Pigalle is an underground French label that keeps the spirit of Parisian youth alive. The brand has expanded its line by collaborating with Nike for a basketball-inspired sportswear range, whilst releasing dual-branded Air Force 1 and Air Raid Silhouettes.
Bulova’s new Shelby Racer Chronograph is inspired by the Daytona Coupe
We are fully in race-car-watch-season, and Bulova is joining the pack with their newest release. The New York company is back at it with Carroll Shelby Licensing for a new limited-edition chronograph.
This one’s the Shelby Racer, built around the 50th Anniversary Aluminum Edition Daytona Coupe. That’s the aluminum-bodied version of the car that made Shelby the only American manufacturer to win the FIA Sports Car World Championship in 1965. (If you’ve seen Ford v Ferrari, you already know the rivalry — that movie covered Shelby’s Le Mans campaign a year later, but the Daytona Coupe is where the beef with Ferrari actually started.)
As a menswear writer, I take pride in snazzy dressing. You can imagine my chagrin when I showed up to a recent wedding as the worst-dressed groomsman. It had been a perfect storm of sartorial mishaps. I’d slimmed down since the last time I wore black tie, leaving the jacket and cummerbund baggy. My favorite cuff links had vanished on a work trip. To complete the fiasco, my tuxedo shirt bore an archipelago of merlot stains from a Christmas party in late ’25.
Fortunately, I had the chance to salvage my dignity at another wedding a few weeks later. I rallied like Rocky. Rush alterations. New cuff links. A crisp Marcella shirt. Polished black shoes. I went from disheveled schlub to black-tie stud.
TAG Heuer just brought back its best Japanese racing collab
TAG Heuer just announced the second Carrera collaboration with Team Ikuzawa and Bamford Watch Department, three years after their first one together — and this time, they went back to a stopwatch.
The watch is built on TAG Heuer’s 39mm Carrera Glassbox, the modern take on the original 1963 Carrera that swaps a bezel for a highly domed sapphire crystal. But the design here pulls specifically from the Heuer Roadmaster, a vintage timing stopwatch Team Ikuzawa used trackside through the ’70s and ’80s, not from any particular car or race.