BRAND-NEW

4 New Contemporary Menswear Brands Being Introduced to Toronto for Fall/Winter 2015

J.W Anderson

The brand was only launched in 2008 but since then J.W Anderson has been growing at an astonishing rate. The founder, Jonathan Anderson has won just about every prize a young designer could win and is now also the creative director of spanish fashion giant, Loewe. His brand is mostly known for blurring the line between menswear and womenswear. It has been readily stocked at high end retailers such as Mr. Porter and Ssense and has now finally made it’s way into Ontario. Anderson’s designs are currently available at the Hudson’s Bay White Space in the Eaton Centre. A must have for this season is the zip funnel neck sweater with oversized zip detail. It has been seen on the likes of rapper and style influencer, A$AP Rocky in his new video “Jukebox Joints”.

Sunnei

If you are a fan of the fresh and playful designs of Italian brand Marni, you will fall in love with Sunnei. Sunnei is 2 years old and stocked at a small group of well curated boutiques, most notably at Opening Ceremony. Brand creative director, Loris Messina claims that italian fashion is getting stale and wants to change. Messina creates easy to wear pieces that do not follow trends and are “effortlessly cool”. The brands attention to detail is clearly illustrated with its use of  interesting fabrics and dyeing techniques. The garments are now available at the trendy Soop Soop shop on Dundas Street West for this Fall/Winter season. A must-have from the collection and also a favourite from the designer himself is the oversized parka with large patch pockets, in a beautiful shade of forest green.

Proper Gang

You may never have heard of Proper Gang before, but undoubtedly you have heard of Supreme. What these two brands have in common is that they are currently creatively directed by the same man- Max Vanderwoude Gross. After Brendon Babenzien’s departure in 2015, Vanderwoude was chosen to take over the brand’s creative department. Supreme saw potential in him with his owns brand success, that was only created in 2013. Proper Gang has deep roots in street culture; think hip-hop music and skateboarding. It is only appropriate that the brand carries this identity seeing as Vanderwoude is a New-Yorker. Yorkville based shop Working Title, who also has roots in street culture, has picked up Proper Gang for F/W 2015. A key piece for this season is the denim dungaree pant which has a comfortable loose fit and is cropped. 

Sacai

By no means is Sacai a new brand, as it was launched in 1999 by Chitose Abe after working under Junya Watanabe’s eponymous label. Sacai is finally available at the renowned Haven shop, which stocks mainly high end Japanese labels. The brand comfortably makes its way into Haven’s roster with its reworked staple garments. Chitose Abe is famous for making sportswear inspired garments with interesting textile combinations, that remain masculine. A standout piece for this season is the Leather Rider’s jacket with a removable liner. The liner is made of pile fleece, which will keep you warm on those -30 Celsius days but is removable which gives the jacket more wearability.