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Style > Fashion

The 25 Best Streetwear

Brands to Know Now and
Wear Forever
Embrace the hype.

By The Esquire Editors And Gaby Keiderling

PUBLISHED: NOV 29, 2023

SAVE ARTICLE

S
treetwear is an industry term that
was used to describe clothes that
were non-designer and worn
everyday on the, you guessed it, streets. It
largely centered around skateboarding
culture, particularly in California, and
urban environments across the U.S. The
silhouettes were long and loose, and the
styles largely consisted of affordable
graphic tees, hoodies, bucket hats, caps,
sneakers, and certain types of denim.
Think workwear, but more fun. Basically,
they were things that dudes just wanted to
wear all day.

The genius in streetwear, however, is how

collections and particularly covetable
grails were released. The quantities
produced were so limited, thus instigating
demand and, as a result, hype around all
their drops. Wearing an item showed
others in the know that you won; you were
able to get your hands on something
elusive that many of your peers also
coveted. It’s a practice that has made a
brand like Supreme a billion-dollar
company.

Streetwear has become a force unlike any

other. And no matter how many times
critics have sounded the death knell, the
style, as with those lines down Spring
Street, has grown every year. So we might
as well embrace it. Below, the 25
streetwear brand that aren't going
anywhere anytime soon.

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ENTERTAINMENT STYLE LIFESTYLE

A BATHING APE

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From Pharrell to Drake to Robin Williams

(yup, that one), some of our favorite
dudes have been huge fans of A Bathing
Ape. They, however, call it Bape, for short,
and understand how the Japanese label
has consistently offered the sleekest,
coolest, most eye-catching graphics since
1993. Its pink camo tees and Bapesta
sneakers—a not-so-subtle riff on the Air
Foce 1—are perennial best sellers.

SHOP BAPE SHOP FARFETCH

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AIMÉ LEON DORE

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Queens native Teddy Santis launched Aimé

Leon Dore in 2014 and after a few crucial
cosigns early on, the label's gone from
success to success to (yep) another
success. No brand does elevated
streetwear quite like ALD: Santis infuses
each collection with a retro nostalgia that
consistently feels fresh by filtering his
singular take on throwback style through
extremely specific cultural touchstones
that somehow always look like something
new.

SHOP ALD SHOP STOCKX

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AWAKE NY

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Ditto Angelo Baque, who left a longtime

gig as Supreme's brand director to launch
Awake NY, his own collection of clothing
that makes full use of his streetwise
sensibility and signature eye for standout
graphics.

SHOP AWAKE NY SHOP SSENSE

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BRAIN DEAD

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Kyle Ng launched Brain Dead as a creative

collective of artists and designers from
around the world. Since then, Brain Dead
has become one of the hottest labels in
town, collaborating with a who's who of
big names—including A.P.C., Carhartt, and
The North Face—on highly covetable
pieces that incorporate the brand's
signature doodling and scribbled graphics.

SHOP BRAIN DEAD

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CARHARTT WIP

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From durable apparel to outdoor gear,

Carhartt isn’t the first label one thinks of
when it comes to streetwear. But its loose
wares and selection of beanies greatly
appealed to skateboarders, eventually
being adopted into streetwear culture with
open arms. Capitalizing on this, the label
created Carhartt WIP, which dives deeper
into skating style with baseball caps and
sleeker fits.

SHOP CARHARTT WIP SHOP MR PORTER

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CACTUS PLANT FLEA

MARKET
TUSTDOITC

sunshine

cofm.xyz

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The secret to seemingly any successful

collaboration over the last few years?
Partner with Cactus Plant Flea Market
(lather, rinse, repeat). The intentionally
enigmatic label founded by Cynthia Lu in
2015 has lent its signature DIY typography
and smiley face motif to collaborations
with Nike (pictured here), and just about
every other major player in the streetwear
space, and represents a notable standout
run by a WOC in a mostly male-dominated
segment of the fashion world.

SHOP CPFM

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FUBU

FUBU

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Hip-hop culture at large were devotees of

Fubu—a.k.a., For Us, By Us. Founded by
Daymond John (Shark Tank fans know
what’s up) in 1992, the label set out to
bolster the awareness of supporting black-
owned businesses, and instantly caught
the attention of LL Cool J. The rapper
would rock the brand’s brightly colored,
often oversized collections that featured its
unmissable logo, inspiring a whole
generation to follow suit. Admittedly, the
brand has faltered since its heyday in the
’90s, but it is looking to climb back up the
proverbial ladder with its 2020 relaunch.

SHOP FUBU

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HERON PRESTON

HERONPRESTON

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Along with Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh and

Givenchy’s Matthew Williams, Heron
Preston is a Yeezy protégé and one-third of
fashion and music collective Been Trill. His
eponymous brand has received attention
for its border-pushing silhouettes,
construction gear-adjacent hardware, and
utility fabrics, especially the now-signature
use of bright orange.

SHOP HERON PRESTON SHOP SAKS

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KITH

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Like we said, Kith often features lines

outside its storefronts, amassing crowds
that come for the choicest collabs between
the retailer and a wide range of names and
companies, from artists and architects to
some of the brands on this list to Bugaboo
strollers. Its founder, Ronnie Fieg, has
effectively become a superstar in the
streetwear genre, and he has parlayed this
notoriety and knowhow into Kith’s private
label collection.

SHOP KITH

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