5 Notable Menswear Fashion Brands With Under 4,000 Followers
Today, there is an overwhelming number of fashion brands to choose from and a heap of new ones being created everyday. Here are 5 brands with under 4,000 followers and an individual perspective.
Today, there is an overwhelming number of fashion brands to choose from and a heap of new ones being created everyday. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It allows for more individuality, expression of ideas, and stylish clothes to wear.
The best brands have a strong perspective behind them. An ethos. But they are also making cool product. The fusion of the two makes for incredible brands. Here are five fashion brands with under 4,000 followers on Instagram, an individual perspective, and cool product.
Dreamhouse Index
Designer Tracie Fields and Travis Castle have released their first collection, “The Dirt Floor.” With at least 2 years of working on prototypes and building ideas, the designers produced some interesting and experimental products like Japanese beaten twill cargos, corroded fabric dresses and tanks, and many other exceptional pieces.
The clothing alone—most of it is skin tight, so the product isn’t for everyone— would’ve put this brand on this list. Even more, it’s obvious that they’ve meticulously thought about the brand’s vision. They’ve worked with photographer Brandon Bowen, who shot the lookbook for Young Thug’s brand Spider and 19-year-old graphic designer GBC Pierre, who’s done graphic work for Ian Conner’s Sicko.
So far, DREAMHOUSE has delivered the full package: a brand with an individual perspective, great product, and an ethos worth believing in. As they’ve put it on their site: “Remember, Individuality is a Non-Sustainable Asset.” Currently, everything on the site is sold out, however they still have more unreleased products, like a tank-top with a thermal heat-type graphic on the back, that makes DREAMHOUSE worth following.
Shermer Academy
With aims to recapture a forgotten feeling, Shemer Academy is producing nostalgia. Not nostalgia like a DBruze or bootleg tee designers; they aren’t recreating product with vintage imagery. At least not much of it. Instead they’re aiming to recreate the feeling that was attained by early 80s and 90s magazines, movies, and music, like Playboy, The Breakfast Club, and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
Shermer Academy is highlighting both the beautiful, youthful and even the sadness of that time. The first collection “JUDE PHOENIX” was inspired by River Jude Phoenix, specifically the star’s beautiful, yet reckless lifestyle. The brand’s standout piece, the Jude Denim Bomber, pays homage to both Phoenix and the West Hollywood club The Viper Room, the club where Phoenix died of a drug overdose.
Other items like the Heartthrob trucker and Wetdream sweatpants capture the youthful essence that the brand is aiming to achieve. With 2 pop-up shops under their belt with other Your Loss, LTD. brands Boys in Toyland and Not For Sale, Shermer Academy has yet to be released online. Still, it’s a brand worth watching for when the time comes.
A.A. Spectrum
AASpectrum--short for All About Spectrum-- is a brand with a mission to “create a tribe, not an army--a spectrum with room for diversity.” The socially conscious brand is interested in creating environmentally friendly and long-lasting products while representing humanity as a whole. Even their logo is a simplified design of the ren symbol, which means “people/human.”
Started in 2015, during political clashes all around the world, AASpectrum is focused on performance, quality, sustainability, society, and functionality. They’re still making stylish products like the oversized fleece Melting Polar Jacket and Collage Parka.
AASpectrum is committed to the Responsible Down Standard, using long lasting fabrics and vegan alternatives while exploring the possibility of menswear shape and design. With a few stockists like SSENSE and H.Lorenzo, AA Spectrum takes personal purchase inquiries through email.
50 Grams of Silver
Originally trained as a shoemaker, Mikhail Savchenkov has designed bowties and ran a now-closed clothing brand with his wife. Around 2019, he wanted to reflect his impressions “into some form of art” and found himself making jewelry. Focusing mostly on rings--due to his pickiness when it comes to finding the perfect shapes of other products-- the self-taught jewelry designer also makes earrings and bracelets.
Today, he is travelling the world and making jewelry that have a brutal, yet elegant style to them. The rings are made with handcrafted silver and volcanic sulfur used for oxidation; he initially found the volcanic sulfur while travelling through Indonesia. Savchenkov finds inspiration in his travels, whether it’s oriental patterns, japanese helmets, or even a button from an Alexander Mcqueen coat to create a heavy volume of ring designs to choose from on the brand’s etsy shop.
Public Display of Affection
In a time where public displays of affection are lacking--because there isn’t much of a public to be in--PDA is a brand showing us what we’re missing out on. Much like Emily Oberg’s Sporty & Rich, Public Display of Affection’s entire idea is embedded in its name. Created by Mackenzie Freemire and Alex Tan--both work at the design agency Mouthwash Studios--PDA recently released their 3rd collection which included, totes, tees, and hoodies.
The clothes aren’t groundbreaking, however the level of communication PDA offers makes them noteworthy. Their ethos runs through it all; posts like Will Smith crying as he’s being kissed or a butterfly landing on Naomi Osaka’s face, along with their own produced content like the homepage on their website successfully showcases the brand’s concept.