Streetwear from LDN town
It might not be as powerful as New York, as posh as Paris or as suave as Milan, but London – home to pioneering labels such as Burberry and Alexander McQueen – is undoubtedly one of the most fashionable cities in the world. And at ICON Printing, we’ve been at the heart of it for a decade – providing screen printing, DTG printing and embroidery for clients from Topshop to Boiler Room, Zandra Rhodes to Niketown, as well as for countless small labels and designers.
But London’s impact on global fashion is none the more reflected in its streetwear brands, with the capital offering up a variety of labels for every style, from screen printed bootleg t-shirts to custom tracksuits. Here’s the lowdown on ten of the best up and coming streetwear brands born and bred in London.
Done London
Done London is a Lewisham based streetwear label and screen printing studio that’s been going since 2012. Taking a huge amount of inspiration from London’s transport network and its strong associations with graffiti, you may recognise some of their Tube seating inspired t-shirt designs as they were a cult classic with Londoners repping their favourite tube line a few years back.
Anticca UK
Made by Charlie Robinson, this south London based label bills itself as a ‘platform to promote rising creative talent by running nights, art shows, fundraisers, pop-ups and collaborative projects’. It mixes bright, pastel colours (specifically a lot of love for pinks, teals and turquoise) with simple designs, and puts on great parties with up and coming DJ’s in south London venues like M.O.T and Tola to boot.
Tens Studio
Tens Studio is a Peckham based, handmade-to-order two piece click suit designer, specialising in bold prints, one off designs and collaborations with local artists. Real name Samantha Russell, she’s already made two pieces for UK Garage rising star Conducta and worked with local graffiti hero Andrew Gillman.
Wavey Garms
Although primarily known for being a second hand streetwear and high end fashion reseller, Wavey Garms, aka Andres and Rhiannon Branco, have also got involved in designing clothes as well. From their various t-shirts, to the multi-coloured jumper collaboration with AGR Knit, their even now dipping into the toddlers market with the release of their new Wavey Babies range.
Goods by Goodhood
Goodhood are the quintessential hipsters shop, selling the trendiest brands like Wood Wood, A.P.C and Norse Projects. But they also make some great clobber themselves, with clothes as finely crafted as you’d expect from the average price range of their items on sale. And it’s not just clothes they do, but cutlery, plant hangers, jewellery and mugs as well, if you ever get bored of just collecting streetwear.
The Lurkers
The anonymous duo from north London have been in the graffti scene for over a decade, hitting up the most hard to reach spots in London with their pop culture inspired tags and pieces. And their t-shirts, jumpers and caps draw from the same well of 90’s influences, with spins on brands like Lacoste (Lurkoste), Little Chef (Lurker Chef) and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles all taking popular logos and twisting them in cheeky ways.
CareFree
CareFree is a brand by up and coming designer and one time Patta employee Damian Malontie, whose simple logo, essentially a spin on the Seinfeld logo with teal and fuschia colouring, has gone down a storm with hypebeasts in both London and Japan alike.
Sports Banger
Sports Banger started out as a joke when it’s creator, Jon Wright, made a ‘FREE TULISA’ t-shirt that blew up after it was worn at a festival by Skream. Since then, he’s taken the UK fashion world by storm with his bootlegs on Adidas, Nike and Reebok, as well as his recent collaboration with Slazenger aptly titled Slazenger Banger, which now sells in Sports Direct nationwide.
Tottenham Textiles
Tottenham Textiles live right next door to Sports Bangers HQ in Seven Sisters, and they bring a similar level of pioneering thought to their designs as he does. With their label Tottex, they bring their intimate knowledge of textiles and clothes design to make vibrant, forward thinking streetwear.
Roundel London
You may be forgiven for thinking Roundel London is simply TfL branded merch with how much they use their logos and fonts, but although they have permission to use their creative designs, they are actually a separate design company. And with incredible collaborations with Nike that set the footwear game alight, they certainly stand on their own two feet when it comes to streetwear.