11 Secret High End Fashion Brands That Are Rising To The Top
Even those who aren’t the most style savvy will recognize popular high end fashion brands such as Chanel, Gucci, or Prada. But what about those brands that are not so well known? If you want to be a trendsetter rather than a fashion follower, then these are eleven of the rising high end fashion brands you need to start paying attention to.
Christopher John Rogers
Christopher John Rogers is the fashion industry’s current golden child with his eponymous label that brings a young and fresh imagination to the echelons of high end fashion brands. He specializes in couture evening wear, presenting pieces with bold colors and striking silhouettes. His design aesthetic just screams to be noticed.
Rogers’ brand also incorporates activism, it promotes more inclusivity and appreciation of black and African-American beauty in a historically exclusionary industry. He has won major awards from the fashion industry leaders, and has collaborated with many black and queer celebrities such as Tracee Ellis Ross, Lil Nas X, and Shea Couleé.
One of his most well-known designs (pictured below) is a very androgynous evening suit in a gradient of red shades that went viral this past winter for using a male model in a women’s fashion show, and artfully undermining society’s gender norms.
BITE Studios
BITE, which stands for By Independent Thinkers for Environmental Progress, is one of the few high end fashion brands that mixes style with sustainability. Founded in 2016, BITE Studios offers a wide selection of luxury womenswear in updated versions of classic styles, with a special focus on expert tailoring. Although their focus is on the make more than the model so to speak, the versatility of their minimalist styles makes any item from BITE Studios a worthy addition to one’s personal collection.
Dilara Findikoglu
Dilara Findikoglu is a rebel in every way. Originally from Turkey, she left her traditional family to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins, one of London’s premier art schools. When her graduation came around, her collection ultimately was not picked by faculty for the school’s fashion show.
In response, Findikoglu staged her own guerilla fashion show at the same time to disrupt it. Needless to say, this gained her a lot of attention as an artist and designer. Since her fiery debut in the fashion world, Findikoglu has steadily released a number of collections that combine traditional fashion designs with punk influences and feminism.
Pyer Moss
Pyer Moss is another one rising brand that combines activism with art. Created by Haitian-American designer Kerby Jean-Raymond in 2013, Pyer Moss first gained major attention in 2016 with a collection that incorporated messages from the Black Lives Matter movement and highlighted experiences of black Americans through fashion and several other modes of art. Since then, Pyer Moss has continued to rise in the fashion industry with its potent collections that challenge the audience’s thinking.
As a business, Pyer Moss offers both mens and womens clothing as well as shoes. The brand’s style is marketed as high end street style and everyday wear clothing, with relatively affordable prices when compared to other high end fashion brands. The brand also recently collaborated with Reebok to release a special limited collection.
Saks Potts
Saks Potts is a Danish fashion label that has been secretly rising to the top with colorful and unique winter coats crafted to both withstand and stand out in Denmark’s harsh winters. Saks Potts is less focused on trends and more focused on creating very high quality fashion pieces that will last many seasons. Because of this, they haven’t stood out as much as other rising brands, but they have still won many style awards and their pieces are fit for almost every wardrobe.
SemSem
SemSem is a feminist brand launched in 2015 by Egyptian-Franch designer Abeer Al Otaiba. The brand is inspired by the relationships between mothers and daughters, so SemSem sells children’s clothes in addition to womenswear. The brand’s name is also inspired by the designer’s young daughter.
Beyond fashion, Al Otaiba and SemSem are also focused on philanthropy, helping improve the lives of women and girls around the world. SemSem is one of the best examples of a brand that perfectly blends style and sustenance, as the brand’s feminist lens influences both their creativity and their conscience.
Rejina Pyo
Rejina Pyo is a British fashion brand that takes a very philosophical approach to fashion and clothing. The brand “explores dressing as an everyday phenomenon,” and “is not concerned with promoting quick or short-term trends,”. In a world increasingly dominated by cheap fast fashion, Rejina Pyo offers an old-school approach to shopping that emphasizes the longevity and individuality of each piece rather than ephemeral industry trends.
ROTATE
Another Danish brand, ROTATE stands out from many other rising brands by promoting sexy and bold designs made for partying and fun. Although their designs are often trendy and made for a fast lifestyle, ROTATE is anything but fast fashion. The brand’s high end price point ensures quality in craft as well as design, offering clothes that will always stand out at parties for years to come.
Sami Miro Vintage
Sami Miro Vintage (abbreviated as SMV) is clear about their brand mission from the top. Before even entering their site, their search preview touts a “woman owned, POC owned, small business with a heavy focus on sustainability,”. SMV is basically everything a socially-conscious fashionista could hope for.
SMV’s designs live up to the height of their values. They offer many super trendy styles, often upcycled from thrifted or vintage garments. The nature of their production also gives SMV a very unique one-time only selling point, making their designs highly coveted and explaining the price.
Peter Do
Peter Do’s self-titled is a very recently launched label that emphasizes quality and attention to detail above all else. His designs are very minimalistic, but each piece is still distinctly modern. With a more formal and tailored aesthetic, Peter Do is the brand for the modern and future professional woman.
MinjuKim
Minju Kim (whose brand is stylized as her name without the space) is probably best known for winning the first and only season of Netflix’s fashion competition and reality show, Next In Fashion. Based in Seoul, South Korea, MinjuKim’s designs are known for their youthful imagination and very feminine silhouettes. In the often dramatic world of high-end couture, MinjuKim proves you can still have fun and be playful while producing serious works of art.
