MENSWEAR LABELS TO WATCH

LABELS TO WATCH

BRANDS

DIMA LEU

Founded in Italy by the designer of the same name, DIMA LEU hits the fashion spot with collections that cross over between freestyle and elegance, combining comfortable ease with a classic touch. Redesigning athletic wear in an urbane way, the brand mixes the time-honored craft of men’s tailoring with its ‘counterpart’ of two-piece tracksuits. What’s more, from the beginning DIMA LEU adopted a sustainable approach, offering brand aficionados limited-edition garments wholly made in Italy using deadstock fabrics. From S/S 20, thanks to a collaboration with Italian textile producers and the use of fabrics they had in their archives, this approach has been extended to most of the collection. DIMA LEU is a finalist of the 2020 Who’s On Next? award by Altaroma Fashion Week (the winner had yet to be announced at the time of writing). Stockists have included Dover Street Market (Japan, US), End Clothing (UK), Opener (Korea), Reebonz (Kuwait) and others. www.dimaleu.com

AHLUWALIA

London-based Priya Ahluwalia launched the menswear label Ahluwalia in 2018 after graduating from the University of Westminster. She has been an important figure in discussions around sustainability since ‘Sweet Lassi’, her 2018 photography book and menswear collection based in fieldwork on fashion waste conducted in Lagos and Panipat. Her Indian-Nigerian heritage is central to her creative process – both stylistically and in her goal to reduce clothing waste. Her collections, comprising sportswear, knitwear and fine tailoring, begin mostly as vintage and deadstock clothing, and are transformed into colorfully elegant, often one-ofa-kind fashion. Movement is central to this body of work, through paneled and asymmetric constructions, clashing fabric combinations and silhouettes that play with volume. A/W 2020 offered patchworked tracksuits, paneled denim and safari-style jackets in burnt orange, oatmeal and browns, and the avant-garde nostalgia that is a mainstay of her work. Stockists include Browns, MatchesFashion, SSENSE, LN-CC, Nubian Tokyo, Stripe Inc. and Addicted Korea. www.ahluwaliastudio.com

NOMENKLATURA STUDIO

Nomenklatura Studio is a progressive menswear brand led by Alexandre Plokhov, a Russian-born designer based in the US whose extensive experience includes design director positions at Helmut Lang and Versace Uomo as well as creative direction of his cult brand Cloak – whose aesthetic was coined by the press in the 2000s as “military goth” – and, later, of his eponymous label. After closing the latter, he spent a few years away from the fashion industry, returning in 2017 to launch Nomenklatura Studio. The brand focuses on advanced sportswear, leather, tailoring and selected accessories; lately, signature boots have become key, too. Plokhov’s penchant for razor-sharp tailoring and advanced fabric know-how paired with a street attitude shine through his collections, which take inspiration from history, music and combat uniforms. The label is represented by Dear Progress showroom in Paris. Stockists include SSENSE (Montreal), The Serpentine (Toronto), Unfollow and B'2nd (Tokyo) along with Departamento (Los Angeles). nomenklaturastudio.com