5 Brands You Need to Know About Before They Blow Up

Advisory Board Crystals

John McDavid Lehman is not your typical high-fashion designer. Prior to launching his own label, McMarden, he didn’t work at other brands or fashion houses. Instead, the L.A native graduated from University of Southern California with a BA in comparative literature, and later became a fourth grade teacher, a novelist, and a leather goods maker. But in 2014, he and his girlfriend, Anastasia Marden, launched McMarden, a contemporary menswear line that offers everything from shawl-collared silk Cubano shirts to cheetah-print jackets. The brand has been co-signed by celebrities, such as scarf king Lenny Kravitz, and is sold at some of the best retailers around, including Barneys and Union Los Angeles. Soon, Lehman will open a flagship store in downtown L.A.

When Tony Liu dropped out of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007 and moved back to New York, he discovered he could no longer afford to buy designer clothing on the regular. “I needed to move into my own place and didn’t have money to spend on clothes anymore,” he told Complex in a recent interview. “I was wearing Uniqlo all the time.” To supplement his wardrobe, Liu launched You As, a brand that strives to create modern staples and prefers to encourage individualism over trendiness and fad-chasing. Liu’s debut Fall/Winter 2016 collection included workwear-inspired mac coats, camp collar shirts utilizing technicolor floral patterns, and both tailored and pleated trousers with raw hems. This past July, he presented his Spring/Summer 2018 collection, which headlined with a jumpsuit featuring 15,000 Swarovski crystals, during New York Fashion Week: Men’s for the first time. You As is one of those brands you could shape your entire wardrobe around. Well, as long as you have the budget. 

Crystals are said to have metaphysical healing powers, a pseudoscience that claims to draw out one’s negative energy by attaching to your chakras. While there are many critics—and, well, science—out to disprove the power of crystals; if not anything else they’ve brought together two people to create some cool shit. In 2016, Remington Guest and his girlfriend, Heather Haber, co-founded Advisory Board Crystals after he bought her a lepidolite crystal on one of their first dates. With a series of custom hand-dyed shirts made by a unique crystal-infused tie-dying process, Remington and Haber describe the brand as “the contemporary iteration of a crystal shop.”

Advisory Board Crystals is building up its name, and so far has collaborated with Union Los Angeles, Bergford Goodman, colette, and Grailed. Remington and Haber continue to keep the hits coming. This past week, they released their second collection of shirts, along with an incredible range or trippy casual pants. In a time where a graphic T-shirt can get lost in the shuffle, Advisory Board Crystals has found the crystal ball to set itself apart to create something noteworthy.

Tokyo-based label The Nerdys can be best described as prep, eccentric, and vintage-inspired. Its take on American prep is a little awkward and nerdy, but there’s an alluring quality that shines through in its pieces—be it a pair of baggy trousers or outerwear with paisley lining. The Nerdys isn’t afraid to embrace and celebrate the social misfit. This is the kind of sensibility the fashion world yearns for, and maybe The Nerdys is the next Japanese brand to take their interpretation of a niche Western societal genre to new heights.

The Nerdys was previously only sold overseas, but lucky for you it’s now available in a few U.S. stores, including Goose Barnacle, Brooklyn Tailors, and Mannahatta.

Brothers Richard, Michael, and Steve Hsieh have focused on bringing in progressive, simplistic, high-quality labels to their Taiwanese-based retailer Ne.Sense since 2013. So it should be no surprise that just two years later, they were able to create a fully-fledged contemporary menswear brand with those same qualities.

But Necessity Sense doesn’t just make garments; all of their collections thus far have had hidden meanings and tackled cultural issues. In fact, the Hsieh brothers describe their brand as a “modern day propaganda.” Their debut collection, called “Yellnow,” referenced the 1850s Gold Rush, when plenty of Chinese laborers were brought to California to work. The most recent Spring/Summer 2018 “Pressured Paradise” line, which they showed during their first NYFW presentation this past July, included boxy and oversized coats, trousers, silk shirts, and more that were inspired by a recent trip to Thailand, where they found a conflicting dichotomy between the temples and the Red Light District in the country. What’s more, Necessity Sense hosts an art installation every season to raise cultural awareness and works with charities and organizations. Now that’s something worth talking about.