Streetwear brands to watch in 2011

Wil Benton, recently crowned Digital Journalist of the Year (The Guardian Student Media Awards), tells Reach of three streetwear brands to look out for next year. Wil can be found at FatKidOnFire where he writes about the UK scene.

There are many, many streetwear clothing companies in the UK. I think it’s important to define streetwear before we go any further.

To me, streetwear is any brand independent of the big highstreet stores (although this is starting to change) who can range from being run out of a bedroom to having a few employees who share the fairly massive workload involved in running your own clothing company.

The UK has a wealth of un-championed streetwear and I’ve picked three that I think are about to blow up in 2011.

Villainous Visard

The UK streetwear market has long been lacking any of the high end “luxury” brands that other countries have (Japan’s A Bathing Ape and America’s Billionaire Boys Club are two prime examples). This could be attributed to many factors but, thankfully, it’s all about to change.

This one-man t-shirt brand is run by the man behind the FatKidOnFire logos. I first met Binz Tamang as FKOF was starting to take shape in the beginning of this year and was instantly impressed by his drive and obvious passion for the brand. Binz does everything involved with running the brand, from designing to handling business. The Villain product line currently consists of designs inspired by Golden Era comics, hip-hop and Anime, that are so sharp and fresh that they are blowing most other UK streetwear brands out of the water.

The brand is a prime example of the independent talent we have here in the UK and for this reason I think Binz and the Villain deserves all the support we can offer.

Recently, things have been picking up speed for Villainous Visard. Hip-hop star Example recently wore a Villain t-shirt in the hit video for Tinchy Stryder’s “Game Over” and even went as far as lauding the brand on his blog. The latest four designs from the brand continue the consistently strong visual impact and build on the brand’s imminent success.

DroneBoy Laundry

There aren’t many Welsh streetwear brands that have gained significant recognition from the British market. Cardiff’s DroneBoy is definitely about to change that.

Dave Shaw started the brand in 1998 and continues to produce quality clothing in limited pieces. The brand is steeped in underground culture, with Dave’s design experience coming from designing club flyers for drum and bass nights in Cardiff.

The brand’s strong monochrome brand identity means Dave’s design work is instantly recognizable, which brings a joyful, rebellious and sometimes mischievous angle to fashion.

If you want designs that would look as good on a wall-mounted canvas as they do on a t-shirt, look no further than DroneBoy Laundry. It’s also worthy to note that the brand are heavily involved with bringing amazing musicians to Cardiff (and soon to London) so if you’re into your drum and bass or dubstep get involved!

Studio Rudo

The man behind this next brand has one of the most impressive freelance CVs I’ve ever seen and this most definitely reflects in his design work. Having worked with New Era (he was the lead graphic artist for the NE apparel line), Marvel and DC Comics, Timberland, Ted Baker and a whole host of other massive brands, Tony Lewthwaite knows what he’s talking about when it comes to creating fresh designs.

Rudo’s “Signature Line” consists of four different designs, all instantly recognizable as a Rudo creation. The brand’s strength lies in the flair Tony brings to each design whilst keeping a consistent brand image based around hidden details and a shadowy villain. Tony has been touted as the UK’s answer to Benny Gold (a huge independent American streetwear company) and I feel this praise just about sums up where Rudo’s headed.

Tony is another little British streetwear gem. The fantastic designs and the fact Tony takes care of the little things (ie free worldwide delivery with his orders and a gift with every order) is definitely a good way of making a noticeable splash in the often full streetwear pond.

FKOF is definitely keeping eyes on Rudo for 2011.

Wil Benton, who graduated in Pharmacology from King’s College London this summer, won ‘Digital Journalist of the Year’ at the 2010 Guardian Student Media Awards on 24th November. He was awarded the prize for FatKidOnFire – a fashion, lifestyle and culture website he started in March of his final year. Providing in depth interviews with the freshest underground streetwear brands both in the UK and overseas, FatKidOnFire provides an opportunity for the consumer to find out more about the brand and allows the brand to tell the consumer more of who they are – as people as well as a brand. Since its launch, the site has had 9,000 hits from 80 different countries and has amassed 17,000 page views.