Altered States: Five New Menswear Designers Redefining American Style

Meet the young guns at Capsule Show putting avant-garde American fashion on the map.

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Complex Original

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A few years ago, "Americana" was the wave in menswear. Dudes adopted the urban lumberjack look readily, ditching their sneakers and matching graphic tees for Made-in-USA raw selvedge denim, hardy flannel shirts that would keep you insulated throughout winter, and the same practically bulletproof boots that your grandfather probably wore. Now, the notion of what "American style" is has changed considerably. While there will always be a place for wardrobe essentials like jeans, knitwear, and T-shirts, how they fit and who they're made by has evolved over time. How the average guy dresses now is much different than even in 2013, thanks to the fast pace of Internet trends and new brands blowing up over platforms like Instagram. 

The savvy hive mind behind international tradeshow Capsule has definitely noticed, and that's why they enlisted LA-based Guillermo Andrade of 424 on Fairfax to not only exhibit his recently launched in-house line at their tradeshow, but bring along some of the young heads who are defining American fashion culture for themselves and their peers today. The next generation of fashion not only depends on a new crop of eager and creative youth, but older, experienced mentors who can guide them along the way. That's the type of environment Andrade and Capsule's "New America" exhibit cultivates, and the very reason we're choosing to feature them here. Meet the new breed of fashion designers who are redefining American style.

Guillermo Andrade 424 On Fairfax

424

Founded: 2010
Designer: Guillermo Andrade
Age: 30

Born in Guatemala and raised in the Bay Area, Guillermo Andrade is the de facto thought leader of a specific set of fashion-minded Angelenos, and his shop 424 On Fairfax is their incubator. Starting out with a jewelry line when he opened in March 2010, he admits success wasn't imminent. " The first few years I could barely get people to even come in the shop," he says.

The name 424 comes from an experience he had around 15 years old, when he didn't know what a restaurant reservation was, and was turned away at the door, despite having the means to pay for a nice meal. "They were so incredibly rude to me, and that stuck with me forever. I was like: I wanna flip that energy in my life, to have a store that’s considered bougie or whatever, but you come in and it’s a welcoming environment."

Andrade's 424 clothing line bloomed from a series of capsule collections. This season is his first proper collection, and it draws inspiration from Malcolm X (an "X" graphic with the American flag imprinted on it is prominent), '90s rap (pictures of Tupac Shakur), and even police brutality (images of an armored police force with the ironic caption "We're here to help" underneath). 

Of the inspiration, Andrade says: "It was more along the lines of: Could I picture Big L wearing this? And if the answer was yes, I was like: 'OK let’s make it.' Essentially—it’s me going back to my junior year of high school."


 

Rhuigi Villaseñor RHUDE

RHUDE

Founded: 2013
Designer: Rhuigi Villaseñor
Age: 23

Born in the Philippines in 1991, Rhuigi Villaseñor had the privilege of developing a global mindset from an early age, thanks to his architect father who moved his family to places as far as Saudi Arabia. After landing in the States in 2001, Villaseñor aspired to be an art curator, so he began to go to art school, and fell into using clothing as a medium along the way. 

"I somehow found myself in clothes, and my first product was the bandana tee," he says, referring to the all-over printed bandana T-shirt that was all but ubiquitous in the hip-hop style world for a time in 2012. Villaseñor's personal favorite bandana tee pop culture moment was when Kobe Bryant was spotted with his wife in Paris while wearing one. "Kobe Byant’s my Michael Jordan," he gushes.

Villaseñor references the bandana tee in the newest RHUDE collection, where the print is turned into a full-on blanket with colorful yarns woven throughout. The collection takes inspiration from bikers, distressed denim, leather jackets, and a little bit of the weird-yet-strangely-wearable. Seeing a purple fur jacket and an eggplant shaggy sweater reminiscent of Kurt Cobain sitting alongside satin coach's jackets and destroyed denim truckers with "Smokers Die Young" embroidered on the underside of the collar somehow works. It feels as delightfully eclectic as the cast of characters in Mad Max: Fury Road, there are distinct differences in the clothes, but it's clear that that they co-exist within the same universe.

"When I design, I try to fuse the norm with something that will shake the medium," explains Villaseñor. "I find a lot of kids are designing with an anarchic vibe—you know it’s very 'anti- government,' and all that stuff, but I don't think they really understand the meaning of that." He mentions what Kendrick Lamar is doing with his music and projects like his Reebok Ventilator collaboration as the sort of art that pushes social justice and the right kind of creative protest. It has a message, but isn't overly ham-fisted in its delivery.


 

Joshua Willis Anthony Franco Second/Layer

Second/Layer

Founded: 2013
Designers: Joshua Willis and Anthony Franco
Age: 32 (Joshua) 31 (Anthony)

"You are your first layer, and your second layer is your skin," explains Joshua Willis. Second/Layer's clothing tries to make the act of getting dressed as simple as possible through seemingly effortless (not thoughtless) design. 

"We’re taught to construct everything from its core and start from there, and that’s kind of what we did," adds Anthony Franco. 

Second/Layer's new collection takes inspiration from the California landscape, where long stretches of dry land and high-energy urban pockets require a wardrobe that's easy to travel in and is versatile. Drawstring pants, lightweight cotton topcoats, breathable cotton poplin button-downs, and twill baseball caps with cheeky sayings like "Laid Back Lover" feature prominently. It toes the line between California casual and the easy-wearing designer clothes of today's Instagram-obsessed global jet set. That is, it's the kind of photogenic gear you'd be proud to show off in the security check-in tray.

Willis and Franco are the resident veterans of the New America group of designers. Willis spent time at a creative agency consulting for a number of brands and also served as the Creative Director at sneaker brand Creative Recreation. Franco was at Stüssy for nine years prior, working on graphics.

"We’ve been around," says Willis jocularly. Willis and Franco also work on the sneaker label Article Number, and not only rely on their shared experience to move their own brands forward, but also put themselves in a position where they can impart knowledge on a younger generation.

"This business is not a very easy business," cautions Willis. "We take a lot of pride in what we do, but if we’re not moving forward as a business, then it’s just smoke—and  we’re not trying to be smoke."


 

Kyle Pak Homme Boy

HOMME BOY

Founded: 2012
Designer: Kyle J. Pak
Age: 23

Kyle J. Pak was born in the San Fernando Valley and experienced a lot of clashing cultures growing up. His upbringing was decidedly suburban, but he often found himself exposed to primarily black and Mexican cultures. That sort of friction became the basis for HOMME BOY, the obvious turn of the phrase "home boy" while re-christening the French word for man. 

The inspiration from mixing different cultures manifested itself in a collection of eye-catching mixed material jackets. Pak's collage outerwear utilized high-end fabrics like Japanese denim with equally luxe materials like lamb leather and different types of camo. 

For this collection—his third—Pak's moved into more cut-and-sew garments like flannel ponchos, drawstring track pants, block striped turtlenecks, and '90s-nostalgia-inducing thick black belts with a huge metal chain. It's the kind of accessory you'd expect to see paired with a really wide-leg pair of JNCO jeans, an Offspring T-shirt, and a freshly applied dose of Manic Panic hair dye.

"This season's more like a balance of grunge, punk, and hip-hop," says Pak. Lately he's been re-listening to The Kendrick Lamar EP, which more directly inspired his complementing line of T-shirts. In addition to the EP-inspired graphic prints, a recurring slogan on the label and some of the tees is "Made In China. Fucked In America."

That vulgar phrase refers to the fact that while his T-shirts are produced overseas, Pak hand-distresses them himself. "I’m literally fucking them up in my house," he says.


Bradley Soileau BLACKFIST Designer

BLACKFIST

Founded: 2015
Designer: Bradley Soileau
Age: 29

"If I had a 9-5, I’d get fired so quick for my mouth," says Bradley Soileau. You probably recognize the heavily tattooed, Baton Rouge, Louisiana-born designer. Here's a refresher: He's the model in Lana Del Ray's "Born to Die" music video. But he's since ditched being in front of the camera for a more behind-the-scenes career path. "Modeling is just insane," says Soileau. "It’s racist, prejudiced, sexist, and it’s all good—it’s all OK."

"I’m a hella creative person and I don’t want to be known for the way I look," he adds. "I got to travel the world, I got to do some shit, party at some crazy parties, and I’m over it, I don’t want to do it anymore." While he does admit it was fun at first, the honeymoon phase of that part of his life has clearly faded. " When I first started, I was like: 'Yeah! I’m a fucking model, but now I’m just like: 'This shit sucks.​'"

Soileau also says it's hard for a self-described "niche model" to find steady work, and male modeling frankly doesn't pay enough money. That's why last year, he launched BLACKFIST a punk rock-infused clothing line whose first collection was inspired by how much summer fucking sucks. Soileau thanks Guillermo Andrade for getting him started on his path as a designer.

"Guillermo was one of the first people that hired me as a creative, I was the creative director of 424 for a little while and he just kind of took a chance," he says. 

BLACKFIST's newest collection is called "BLACKFIST Vol. 2: Hurt So Good," and consists of elongated assymetrical topcoats, Hawaiian shirts, olive chinos, and custom Vans Authentics that have had the heel cut out to resemble a slip-on chancleta. The references come everywhere from '80s bowl skaters, seminal punk band Suicidal Tendencies, and a cult horror film that anyone who's familiar with the term "Tromaville" knows all too well.

"The inspiration is the movie The Toxic Avenger. The 'Hurt So Good' thing is about me and is about that movie. He’s a little nerdy kid, and they play a prank on him and he turns into a mutant."

In a nutshell, the Toxic Avenger is a brutal vigilante who isn't above killing, maiming, and dismembering anyone foolish enough to incur his wrath. He's a literal monster of a superhero, equally feared as much as praised. The gooey green hands reaching out of the black bucket pays homage to Toxie's origin story, where he's encased in a vat of toxic waste and emerges a superhuman freak.

"He becomes a superhero! But nobody likes him still because he's a freak. It’s a juxtaposition to my life. No one knew who the fuck I was, and then I became a model—and I kind of blew up fast because I did the Lana video two months after I signed to my agency. No one knew me; then everyone knew me; then no one wanted to know me."

As far as where he got the name for his label, Soileau's explanation speaks for itself: "You know the black fist anal plugs? That’s where I got the name from. Everything is based around rock-and-roll, punk, and hardcore subcultures and stuff—so BLACKFIST also sounds like a cool band name."

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