Image via Complex Original
The year is at its midway point, and by now a few brands have cut through the noise to grab headlines and make their case for being deserving of your dollars. Those that have stood out in their respective lanes have used a variety of methods and accomplishments. Whether it was through a huge collaboration out of left field, an incredible presentation or show that kept people talking well after the lights came up, or simply producing an incredibly strong collection that resonated across the spectrum of style, these are the brands that have grabbed the year by the horns and made it theirs. From streetwear to high-fashion, these are The Best Men's Style Brands of 2014 (So Far).
Related: Best Clothing Brands of 2017
Our Legacy
Our Legacy is a name that epitomizes Scandinavian sensibility in menswear, and as the seasons pass it becomes clear that these Swedes continue to use a formula that works. But that doesn't mean its gear is at all boring. Placing importance on timeless garments with minimalist design cues, Our Legacy also gets points for producing compelling visuals for its seasonal collections, in the form of nod-worthy lookbooks and videos. The quiet, considered garments won't jump out at a casual observer, but any serious aficionado of men's style would count Our Legacy in their roster of top brands doing everything right.
John Elliott + Co.
Los Angeles-based John Elliott + Co. experienced a breakout year with its American-made unbranded products. It's easy to get caught waxing poetic about basics brands, but John Elliott truly brings a covetable range of garments that emphasize fit and construction, and it doesn't take a style maven to realize that; the label's motto, "we make clothing that people will wear everyday" essentially says it all. Last year, fashion-conscious guys snatched up every perfectly-fitting tee, denim, and side-zip hoodie the label put out. This year, more and more guys caught on, and getting your hands on a piece during the drop was near-impossible.
Ami
After training his hand at Dior, Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs, designer Alexandre Mattiussi seemed primed to step into a more sizable role. In 2011, this opportunity presented itself when Mattiussi took the reigns of the newly-founded label Ami. Straying from any haughty connotations of fashion, Ami is neither inaccessible or overbearing in its design approach, as the brand's likeable creations have found a home this year with both regular dudes and fashion bros. And don't think this has gone unnoticed: revered webshop Mr. Porter partnered up with Ami on a capsule collaboration that continued the stylish but not overtly trendy direction that both parties expertly follow.
Also of note, Ami's runway presentations haven't failed to impress through fashion-appropriate showmanship, cementing the label in the minds of both editors and consumers. If Ami continues to appeal this universally, then there are nothing but big things ahead for the label.
Palace Skateboards
Core skate brand Palace Skateboards has garnered a certain amount of success with fans of streetwear and skateboarding alike. Believe it or not, the goal for founder Lev Tanju is simply to create a comfortable climate for his team riders, although the brand has also re-released some well-received pieces along the way. Getting his start in London before beginning to distribute globally, Lev has injected a '90s VHS-inspired and DIY aesthetic into the branding, which is the consistent thread running through Palace's skate apparel and board designs.
Recently, Palace opened the doors to a pop-up space in Milan inside Slam Jam, and cooked up a World Cup-related collaboration with adidas Skateboarding. The brand's goods have also found a home in the closets of A$AP Rocky and Drake, and the countless fans who take their style cues from these modern day icons.
Stampd
Stampd and its monochromatic minimalist aesthetic have arisen from relatively humble origins, a time when founder Chris Stamp used school tuition to buy art supplies with which he could customize one-of-one sneakers. Fine-tuning his approach and thereby creating his own lane over the past few years, Chris has broadened his offerings from sneakers into ready-to-wear and accessories that a wide fanbase legitimately clamors for.
The company has risen to a status that requires 10 employees, and continues to do a nice job of picking collaborators, photographers, and other creatives to work with, all the while putting out full collections that blur the lines between progressive fashion and wearability, a movement that an entire style tribe has hopped on.
Hood By Air
Shane Oliver's Hood By Air frequently gets put under the microscope for its obscurities and abstractions, largely on the topics of the brand's experimental aesthetic and the mixed translations that come along with it. However one chooses to interpret the brand and the visual shift that it has heralded, there has been no shortage of attention aimed at its esoteric and captivating runway shows, as well as its more pared-down line of streetwear-inspired pieces Hood By Air Classics that has ushered in some very hyped products each season from the 25-year-old designer.
As streetwear and high-fashion continue to erase the lines, there's no denying that HBA is a leader in this movement. Fashion conglomerate LMVH made this recognition, when it awarded Hood By Air to be the recipient of a financial grant and year-long mentorshop, due to "combining the fluidity of youth culture with the refinement of luxury fashion". Plus, it became even easier for fans of Oliver's creations to get on board when the label launched its e-commerce shop early this year.
Saint Laurent
The widely revered and talked-about Saint Laurent revitalization is ancient history as far as the brand's current popularity would indicate. Opening a grip of flagship spaces around the world that can't keep product on the shelves, the Parisian fashion house has sharply tuned into a classic Rock 'n' Roll "cool" aesthetic thanks to creative director Hedi Slimane. It may have taken Slimane a season or two to really persuade lifelong fans of the Saint Laurent (formerly YSL) house that it was in goods hands, but the shows and product that Saint Laurent has produced in 2014 have convinced everyone of Slimane's skills, not to mention converted a huge amount of consumers.
Pigalle
Named for Paris' 9th district, where the brand's flagship space resides, Pigalle is headed by designer Stephane Ashpool, who has fixed his sights on creations that exist somewhere between streetwer and couture. For Ashpool, his creative process is all centered around Parisian culture, and his upbringing in Pigalle itself, where the competitive fashion climate resulted in what Stephane calls "style battles", when having "big Parisian baller style" was the best way to win. You can see this through the 31-year-old Parisian designer's runway presentations, of which the fall/winter 2014 edition had Paris Fashion Week attendees nearly forgetting about the high-fashion household names they had seen earlier in the week. Although the exaggerated Parisian baller style is evident in numerous ways, the brand's simpler street-sensible creations balance out the line. This year, Pigalle's basketball-inspired collaboration with Nike built key awareness before the Parisian label announced the opening of a basketball sub-line and a store to go with it. Pigalle has been making strides for years, but the moves its made this year definitely have it heading to rare territory in the very near future.
Raf Simons
Consistently upheld as a visionary in contemporary high fashion, Raf Simons shared a role in a number of momentous releases this year, including a collaboration alongside Ruby Sterling for an incredible Fall/Winter 2014 collection and a continuation of his successful sneaker line with adidas. All this while delighting fans of Dior Homme who have been placated by the installation of Simons at the helm and now excited for what he has coming next.
The schooled industrial designer from Belgium repeatedly comes correct with seasonal collections for his eponymous line, while upholding a sense for gainful collaborations. Simons' modernist creations continue to take up commentary on culture and true artistry, and simultaneously channel them into something tangible, or more specifically, wearable. At this point in his career, Simons has a cult fanbase that hunt down his archival creations, but in the first half of 2014 he has advanced his name into the conversations happening across the entire spectrum of style.
Public School
So, how on-point must your brand be if it is considered "award-winning"? Well, ask the guys from Public School, who secured the incredibly prestigious CDFA award for best menswear designer in 2014 to follow up on the short novel of trophies it has garnered in the past. Designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have a firm grasp on communicating a high-low fashion hybrid that has grown into the brand's signature look since it was founded in 2008. From these beginnings, the label has grown to the point that it made its runway debut in February, and immediately doubled its fanbase with the expansion into womenswear.