Welcome to our new series where we take you around the world showcasing the best brands in specific countries, cities, countries and even continents. We're starting things off with London, one of the world's hotspots for fashion.
Before we get into our brands, I want to make it clear that I'm gonna try to reserve this series for the more lowkey brands. So don't be surprised if you don't hear brands like Corteiz, House of Errors etc. All respect to those guys though.
Vented London is a brand I can truly say is more than a brand with its roots stemming from skating and grime culture, a common subculture of UK streetwear. They're very much known for their concrete ashtrays which resemble skate parks and They also have one that resembles a DJ deck set.
These pieces went on to be stocked in places such as Selfridges and Paradeworld. These ashtrays pay homage to the brand inspirations and each all have a signature twist to them. They're handmade in London, leaving each piece with unique imperfections. Joshua Smith, owner of Vented, started the brand out of self-expression wanting to dress differently. Venting is one way to express yourself, hence the name “Vented”.
A few months later, came their debut collection “this is not sportswear” contrary to what the name suggests, the collection looked at the bridge between sportswear and streetwear. The standout piece was the Flight Suit, which came in the cement colourway. The piece is a simple light grey shell suit with the Vented logo embroidered on the right chest and right thigh of the tracksuit. Another piece features Footballing icon, Thierry Henry printed at the bottom of the t. Further pieces in the collection include t-shirts, shirts and jumpers with the V logo embroidered or screen printed.
Flight suits are definitely something I'd like to see more of from them, their olive green colourway deserves some spotlight and the unreleased brown colourway may be my favourite one. I'm keeping my eyes on this one to pick one up. They've also recently moved into cut-and-sew pieces with them having released a light pant and heavy pant in the same colourways I mentioned for their flight suits. Vented aims to use its social media platforms as a time capsule to document the talent, work and moments of young creatives around London. They want to really hold weight to their label of being a lifestyle brand by eventually releasing more homeware and some furniture pieces in the near future. Vented subtle branding paired with a bigger purpose makes it a brand I'm definitely invested in.
Hillside is likely one of the newer brands here. In a short amount of time, Hillside has managed to drop a collection of fire pieces which have mainly been jackets. Let's have a look at them. First came their Cloud jacket, this outerwear piece sees blue clouds printed all over the fabric with 2 black zips coming down the centre of the jacket. The jacket then features a very high chin guard when fully zipped up, keeping you cosy in bad weather conditions. It seems to have an adjustable hood which can be adjusted through the string cuffs attached to it which only further ensures you stay cosy. Another pair of adjustable strings comes around the bottom cuff of the jacket. The hood also seems to have a slight peak which can go on to protect your face. The right chest then sees the hillside logo printed. While this product can be styled very well with a variety of products, their pieces seem perfect for outdoor wear considering all its features.
The next jacket they dropped was the X-Ray jacket. This is actually my personal favourite and also earned Hillside, their first entry into our drops of the week series. In terms of silhouette, the jacket follows similar features as the cloud jacket. One big difference is the placement of the zips, these are placed around the sides of the jacket. This jacket comes in a navy blue colourway with an x-ray of a rib cage and spine printed centre of the jacket. This is then topped off with the Hillside logo printed on the right chest.
Last but least in their jacket locker, we see a collaboration with Slawn. If you didn't already know, Slawn is a contemporary artist here in the UK known for his striking and unique art pieces. A whole article on him is coming soon. This jacket may arguably be their best jacket so far. This time coming in a black colourway, we see Slawns signature face logos printed on both sides of the zipper. I don't know what it is, but the simplicity of it and the contrast make it such a good piece, of course, we have the hillside logo embroidered on the right. It doesn't end there though, the back of the jacket sees a bigger version of Slawn’s art printed on it. I also like how it has a slight gloss to it.
Now that we've gone through all the jackets, be sure to let me know your favourite below in the comments. It's clear to see Slawn is a big fan of the brand as both he and Hillside went on to launch a second collaboration, this time leaving aside any jackets. This black and white capsule collection featured your basic tracksuit, ts and even a beanie. In addition to this, further pieces see Slawn’s art printed on certain parts of the clothes. I think they did this the best with the white beanie which sees a pattern of black slawn prints on the front side of the beanie. Looking at it now, it would've been sick to see this as an all-over pattern on the beanie.
Now I don't actually think Hillside started with jackets as their first few pieces on their feed seem to be waterproof trousers, so it's unclear as to what else they have released and what they started with. I believe even Skepta was able to get his hands on one however I'm unable to find that pic as of now. I do know that the Slawn jacket was first previewed on Skepta's Instagram. Nonetheless, Hillside is different, there's not a lot to them judging by their feed but the products speak for themselves, especially with the on-point photography.
9inedouble0we is one brand that is so lowkey, while still having high demand and making a lot of noise in the underground scene. Countless of times I have seen people recommend their tracksuits on TikTok and youtube. The fact that their tracksuits constantly sell out quickly is what also shows that demand.
Looking over their page, I sense a strong community with their high engagement as well as the use of their “family only” slogan. Honing in on their designs, their signature piece is a tracksuit with a logo centred on the hoodie. Their logo is a graphic of a person getting their hair done and is usually accompanied with "9D0". Their first hoodies seem to use 9inedouble0we instead. Expanding on the tracksuit, we see the 9D0 printed on the upper right thigh and the words “family only” on the upper left thigh. We then see their slogan again on the back of the hoodie.
One thing for me that 9inedouble0we do really well is the colour selection, especially on the first Hoodie on their feed. I love seeing tracksuits like this because it allows you to play around with so many colours which can always produce the next banger your customers go on to love. Of course, 9inedouble0we have switched it up with a couple other pieces in their catalogue. I'm a big fan of their short sets. Especially the text-based ones that they dropped for summer. The blue and red set are hard but the black one deserves its flowers too.
A lot of brands try to come out with purely text-based designs and a lot of them miss, but 9inedouble0we have an effortless hit. The font combined with the puff print makes it unique from all other text-based designs so that's another thing I rate about them. One item that I've seen that is quite popular among their customers was their shell suit. Shell suits are hot right now and I've seen a few UK brands coming out with more of them. The suit follows the same design protocol with minor changes in the placement of the logo, nonetheless, it's another product that deserves its praise. 9inedouble0we is a brand I'll be keeping heavy tabs on in 2023 because the designs, the aura, and the community make it a brand I want to be part of. I see heavy potential only from them and I'd even go as far as to say that in the Uk scene, they're easily contenders for the kings of tracksuits.
I don’t know what it is but something about the name just sounds right. yet it's so simple. Their slogan “everybody eats” indicates they place brotherhood at the centre of their brand. The name suggests, sharing things with your team and thinking selflessly.
They launched their brand in November 2021, and have since dropped a tracksuit and Ts with their signature pieces featuring hands breaking bread, a logo synonymous with their name. I could be wrong but I believe the brand was founded by cityboymoe and his friend gdup. The pair are both music artists that consistently show appreciation for where they grew up, in their songs. This bleeds into the brand meaning of Split Dat as growing up in an environment where they couldn't afford much, they all had to look out for each other and ensure they were good. Their clothing has also been seen on popular UK YouTubers such as Chunkz and Sharky from Beta squad. The first time I saw the brand, I actually missed some minor details on the hoodie. I initially thought it was your usual hoodie and came to find out it has another cut on the sides of the hoodie as well as a missing hem.
This shows a little uniqueness and is another reason I want to pick up a hoodie. The silhouette creates a whole new fit. I also really like the colour palettes they've released hoodies on. Their recent addition includes burgundy colourways which dropped around Christmas. Their past colours have been a deep green as well as a light olive colour which actually ended up coming in a full tracksuit set. Going back to their first-ever drop, the split dat logo was printed on a black colourway and a grey one. Another detail on the hoodie is the split dat text logo printed on the back. Moving away from their hoodies, let's shine some light on their Ts, they essentially share the same design code as the hoodies but still look equally as good. I'll leave some up right now along with the beanie they dropped. One T I was a big fan of was their Iftar T in collaboration with Soho yacht club (more on them later) not only is the design simple yet clean, but the drop was actually for a bigger cause where profits of two different organisations encapsulate the true meaning of split dat and everybody eats. I'm excited to see where Split Dat goes, one item I think would be sick to see from them is a shell suit. Let's see what happens.
Peak Television is a brand that was birthed by founders who had love for film, magazine and television, specifically when it was at its peak, hence the name. It was founded around the end of 2020 after the founders had back-and-forth conversations about it but never actually followed through with the idea until then. The brand is essentially about capturing our culture today, similar to what television did back in the day. Before TV changed due to their reliance on advertising and hunger for higher ratings, it shaped a lot of pop culture and people's styles and views. Peak wants to essentially replicate that impact through clothing. The internet has allowed people to hypothetically create their own TV. Peak retrospectively studies this shift exploring the beautiful and dark elements of pop culture whilst simultaneously acting as a nostalgic love letter to television. At the end of it all, the end goal is to revive the spirit of television and shape the public's taste.
Moving onto the clothes now, it's clear to see the inspirations of tv, film and magazine. The pieces are simple, yet all have their own stories behind them, which peak always manages to lay out well in their posts. The way Peak TV present their pieces is unique and is something I'd like to see more of. The best way to describe it is as a laid-back approach where people don't take themselves too seriously but are instead having fun managing a brand. Their logo is something I'm a big fan of. Behind its simplicity, I see a lot of thought that went into it which can be used by them very creatively when it comes to logos. Obviously, the mountain tops are meant to represent “peak”. My wild guess is that the colours represent the change from tv going from black and white to coloured. For me, their standout product was their Skeenie set, which included a beanie and a scarf.
For all my American viewers, this is a common combo we wear here in the UK. Not only was their design clean with the peak mountain top branding and the colours stacked next to each other, but the presentation of how to wear the Skeenie was also a hard concept. Their barber presentation was also sick and just goes back to what I was saying about the logo being so easy to use creatively.
Another concept I liked was the pullover vs zip mini film. I may do a video on fashion films soon but in short, I need more brands to do it. Not only does it allow the audience to see the clothes on your body and allows you to bring them into your own world, but it also makes you stand out. It evokes a stronger response from people. So the whole campaign for their zip-up and pullover allowing their customers to pick what side they're on was great to see.
Now I recently actually picked up a corduroy cap from this brand and I'm a fan. I feel like a dark green colourway would go hard but honestly, I can't complain. Their corduroy cap is what grabbed my attention for the brand. With their slogan being “do something nice today” their brand is based on generosity and bettering the lives of your dedicated community and people around you.
This is another brand I’d say is a breath of fresh air in the London scene. Not only should they be known for their clothes, but also for their work outside of fashion. Soho Yacht Club sure stick to their word with their multiple charitable acts for the community around them. The profits of their first drop were donated to help feed kids with free school meals over the Easter holiday.
For world book day, they teamed up with Footpatrol to set up a book exchange in London to create limited edition Ts which they then traded with customers for children's books. These books were then donated to local primary schools.
Another charitable act they did was raising money to build a bereavement garden at a Primary School, creating a safe place for the kids who have lost loved ones.
If you're looking for a brand that practises what they preach, Soho Yacht Club is a perfect example. Apart from their many charitable acts, they're also no stranger to collaborations. They went on to drop a corduroy hat with corteiz in two colourways, which all went on to sell out. Soho yacht club also helped Chelsea create their third kit for the 2022/23 season. It was inspired by the style in West London. For an underground brand to get this huge opportunity to work with a premier league football club is huge and it's something they deserve much more props on. Another collab came with A1 Denim. The pair went on to drop a denim jacket along with carpenter jeans creating a clean denim set with both the brand's slogans embroidered on the back. I’d encourage you to check their page for more of their amazing work. I truly admire what the guys behind the brand are doing and how they've used fashion to spread such a message.
EAI is probably the smallest brand on here but don't sleep on them. EAI stands for Everything Aligns Intentionally. This stems from their belief that everything happens for a reason and that trials and tribulations should be seen in a more positive light as it's a contributor to success. This meaning formed one of their slogans “trust in the process” which is self-explanatory in itself. EAI believes that “as long as you take the necessary action, which includes hard work, dedication and sacrifice, Everything will align with the intention of arriving at your desired outcome.”
EAI’s designs are big and bold with plenty of colour. I was actually able to pick one of their pieces at an event where I met the owner. It's a graphic t which has Malcolm X on the front and Muhammed Ali on the back.
I always find myself going back to this t as a graphic t is basically like a wardrobe staple if you're more into streetwear. Now that I think of it, I should have also picked up one of their olive green cargo as they generally had a neat design to them with the contrast stitch. Speaking of contrast stitch, it seems to be part of their signature design, more specifically on their tracksuits. These tracksuits have come in brown, olive green, navy blue and red on black colourways, this is probably another piece I should've picked up.
Their summer sets are also pieces that deserve attention. I feel like one thing EAI does well is the colour selection. The shades contrast well with each other and the finished product always looks well executed. To date, I think their denim set is one of their best pieces among the others. The detailing and the graphics used really highlight the brand's strengths as I mentioned before. Obviously, we got the contrast stitch back but one thing I really rate is the print on the bottom of the jeans. It seems to be to be a highway with trees on the side and mountains in the distance, whatever it is, it's hard and the way it came out on denim makes it even better. I also like how the jeans aren't too baggy. It's something different from the usual where the jeans are baggier.
I personally like a relaxed fit and I think EAI did a great job there. They also did a great job on a more recent drop in which they dropped a Blacked out tracksuit and blacked-out cargos. Conveniently, they dropped it at the end of the year as it goes to show the levels they are aiming at in 2023. These pieces may be blacked out but they're packed with plenty of detail. I believe the piece also dropped at a mini pop-up store they had with it. The shots they took for this drop are insane, I think the effort is something everyone can appreciate especially since pictures can be something brand owners typically overlook.
Some of the goals for EAI this year are to create more intricate designs, create more recognisable designs, improve on the pattern/structure of the garment as well as use more custom labelling, unique colour schemes and fabrics all while subtly carrying the message of the brand. They also intend to expand into denim/leather pieces, accessories, outerwear, womenswear & luxury fashion pieces. Clearly, they've taken this into account with their recent varsity jacket being the first drop of the year. Pop-up events are also something we should expect more of from them.
That's it for the brands today. I know there are some we missed out. So trust me we got part 2 coming out. Nonetheless, where should we go next? We definitely want to hit America so we are thinking LA or NY. Talk to me though, feel free to include continents and countries.
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