Luxury fashion is about more than price or how something looks. What is perhaps most pertinent about splendor clothing is a particular garment can make a person feel.
Whether that’s a plush trench coat that, I dunno, enables you unearth new confidence, or perhaps a cashmere scarf that’s the opulent hug your jugular craves. Point is, luxury can be defined in a plethora of ways, but how it makes you feel is the key.
Of course, when I say luxury fashion, that doesn’t necessarily mean the most well-known or the most expensive brands. Sure, everyone’s aware of the unflappable mainstays (your Guccis, Louis Vuittons, Pradas, etc.), but what about the lesser-known labels that are designing opulent clothing just as well or, in some cases, even better?
In honor of some of our favorite luxury brands that you might not have heard of, I’ve carefully curated a handful of brands that are killing it right now and ones that, while they’re well-known in particular circles, might not be on everyone’s radar.
Namacheko
Brother-and-sister duo Dilan and Lezan Lurr launched Namacheko in January 2017. Born in Kurdistan, raised in Sweden, but now based out of Antwerp, Belgium, the Lurrs’ upbringing informs everything Namacheko does: from the way the clothes are constructed to the fabrics used. Off the back of their first collection in 2017, an Iraqi bridalwear-inspired collection, they showed at Paris Fashion Week Men’s to great acclaim.
Fun fact: the name Namacheko came about after Dilan Lurr came across a type of coffee of the same name. Sorry Namacheko coffee, Namacheko the luxury label is now the best Namacheko.
Objets Daso
Objets Daso’s meticulously crafted bags are the epitome of luxury luggage. Founded by Catherine Whang and Pratik Vyas in 2021, the label, which is designed in London but made in Italy, falls under the “quiet luxury” realm, with its pared-back and elegant aesthetic.
“We believe that the true essence of an objet lies in the quality of materials, thoughtful craftsmanship, and refined attention to detail,” reads the brand’s website, which, if you ask me, is pretty much spot on (and the literal definition of quiet luxury!)
AERON
Eszter Áron’s namesake label, AERON, blends the masculine with the feminine, the elegant with the rustic, and the man-made with the machine-made. Founded in Hungary in 2012, AERON, which continues to work out of Áron’s in-house atelier to this day, creates opulent womenswear through the eco-friendly lens of sustainable innovation.
Áron, whose goal is to dress like-minded women, set out to create state-of-the-art garments with close attention to detail when she opened her label over a decade ago. And one quick scroll through the brand’s webstore will show you that she’s most certainly achieved that.
Max Mara
Despite boasting just shy of 2,500 stores across 90 countries and being founded over 70 years ago, Max Mara is actually pretty low-key when it comes to a name in the world of luxury.
Admired for its sophisticated elegance and opulent fabrics and construction, the Italian fashion house has worked with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Emmanuelle Kahn, Franco Moschino, and Dolce & Gabbana over the years. Thing is, though, they all worked anonymously per Max Mara’s ethos that no name is bigger than the brand itself.
That, by its very nature has seen the brand’s ceiling limited and while it continues to churn out elegant clothing with its cutting-edge industrial tailoring techniques, it seldom gets the plaudits it deserves. Well, Max Mara, we see you.
Lauren Manoogian
If you’re into chunky as hell knitwear and matching accessories, then look no further than reclusive Brooklyn-based designer Lauren Manoogian whose arsenal of ready-to-wear and evolving lifestyle pieces are the best in the game right now.
Manoogian, who focuses on sustainable production techniques using only natural fibres, combines her admiration textiles with her own personal style and, as such, has earned a loyal following since the brand’s launch back in 2008.
Bags have also recently been added to the Lauren Manoogian offering, some of which, according reports, have been individually crocheted by hand and more than 20 hours to make. If that isn’t attention to detail, then I don’t know what is.
