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FASHION

10 independent brands to follow in 2026: our selection

Staff Hytrape12 minUpdated 22.10.2026
10 marques indépendantes à suivre en 2026 : notre sélection

Our selection of 10 independent brands to follow in 2026: Labrum, Corteiz, Yaku, Études Studio, Maison Château Rouge, Forever Vacation, Patta, Kody Phillips, Brain Dead and C2H4. Each has a dated sign of activity from 2025 or 2026 and has not been bought by a group, based on the sources we consulted. The table gives the city, the year founded, the latest dated fact and the source. Compared with our 2024 list, one brand has been acquired (A-COLD-WALL*) and five have been removed for lack of sources.

At a glance

  • Selection: 10 brands, 4 kept from our 2024 list and 6 new ones.
  • Cities: London (3), Paris (2), Los Angeles (2), Amsterdam, Brooklyn and France (Forever Vacation).
  • Founded: from 2004 (Patta) to 2023 (Yaku).
  • Removed: A-COLD-WALL*, acquired in 2024 by Tomorrow Ltd in February, then by Four Marketing in November.
  • Most recent facts: Corteiz x Nike Shox R419 (announced on October 19, 2026) and Patta x Carhartt WIP (from October 23, 2026).
  • Meaning of “independent”: no acquisition or takeover by a group in the sources consulted on October 22, 2026.

Our selection at a glance

Ten independent brands with their founding year and latest dated fact: Labrum 2014, Corteiz 2017, Yaku 2023, Études Studio 2012, Maison Château Rouge 2015, Forever Vacation 2017, Patta 2004, Kody Phillips 2014, Brain Dead 2014, C2H4 2014.
The 10 brands in the selection: year founded, city and latest dated fact.

Summary table: city, founding, latest dated fact

BrandCity or countryFoundedLatest dated factSource
LabrumLondon2014Winner of the BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund, June 2026FashionUnited
CorteizLondon2017Nike Shox R419 announced on October 19, 2026Sole Retriever
YakuLondon2023Autumn-winter 2026 collection shown in February 2026Kaltblut
Études StudioParis2012New chief executive, April 2026; show on January 20, 2026FashionUnited, Numéro
Maison Château RougeParis2015Monoprix collection, November 12 and 13, 2025Home magazine
Forever VacationFrance2017Online shop active on October 22, 2026 (© 2026 notice)Official site
PattaAmsterdam2004Carhartt WIP capsule available from October 23, 2026House of Heat
Kody PhillipsBrooklyn (New York)2014 (first piece, per the designer)TurboTax capsule announced on February 6, 2026Hypebeast
Brain DeadLos Angeles2014Collection with Coach, available from May 29, 2026FashionNetwork
C2H4Los Angeles and Shanghai2014“012” collection, autumn drop, August 18, 2026Hypebeast

Brands are listed by city, in no order of merit. The dates in the “Latest dated fact” column are those of the cited sources.

Compared with our 2024 list

Four brands from the 2024 list are still in the selection: Forever Vacation, Yaku, Kody Phillips and C2H4. Their profiles are rewritten with dated facts.

A-COLD-WALL* is removed because it is no longer independent. Tomorrow Ltd became its sole owner, according to a February 2024 announcement, after its founder, Samuel Ross, left (FashionNetwork). In November 2024, Four Marketing, a British distribution agency in which Frasers Group is a shareholder, bought the brand from Tomorrow (FashionNetwork, TheIndustry.fashion).

Five other brands are removed for lack of evidence: Please Paulo Stop Cappin, Arif Ferdous, MANDOWN MMXXI, Skitzo and Harsh and Cruel. We found no independent source documenting their creation or recent activity. For three of them (MANDOWN MMXXI, Skitzo, Harsh and Cruel), the website cited in our old list no longer loads or redirects to another site. Arif Ferdous’s site blocks our tools. These brands may still be trading; we simply cannot verify it today.

Some details of the old list did not hold up. Yaku Stapleton was described as Australian, while current sources place the brand in London. The materials mentioned (organic cotton, linen, hemp, tencel) appear in no source we consulted. March 21, 2017 as the launch date of Forever Vacation is not confirmed anywhere: only the year 2017 is.

The 10 profiles

Labrum (London, 2014)

Labrum London was founded in 2014 by Foday Dumbuya, who still runs the brand (New Wave Magazine, Retail Times). Its autumn-winter 2026 collection was shown at London Fashion Week in February 2026: it treats fabric as a document that keeps traces of movement and memory (Hypebeast, in Italian). John Lewis launched a second menswear collection with the brand on March 19, 2026. In June 2026, Labrum won the BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund: a £100,000 grant, a year of mentoring and free legal services (FashionUnited).

Corteiz (London, 2017)

Corteiz is a London brand launched in 2017 (Wikipedia, Snobette) and owned by its founder, Clint 419 (Hypebeast). It worked with Nike on the Air Max 95 in 2023 and with Supreme the same year; a “Honey Black” colorway of the Air Max 95 came out in 2025. On October 19, 2026, two specialist sites announced a Nike Shox R419 in three colorways, with a nine-piece apparel line (Sneakerjagers, Sole Retriever). The sale date differs between sources: late October or early November 2026 for Sneakerjagers, the holiday season for Sole Retriever. For context, read our articles on Corteiz and on the Supreme collaboration.

Yaku (London, 2023)

Yaku is a London brand founded in 2023 by the designer Yaku Stapleton, a Central Saint Martins graduate (London Fashion Week). Each season is a chapter of the series “The ImPossible Family Reunion in RPG Space”, fed by Afrofuturism, role-playing games and the designer’s family. The spring-summer 2026 collection, “A Ground to Stand On”, was shown in London in September 2025 (Hypebeast). The autumn-winter 2026 collection, “Evolution of Combat”, was presented in February 2026 (Kaltblut), in hand-dyed and distressed deadstock fabrics. The designer is part of the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN programme (FashionUnited). On his first shoes, read our article on the “Creature Shoes”.

Études Studio (Paris, 2012)

Études Studio is a Paris brand founded in 2012 by Aurélien Arbet and Jérémie Egry. It combines menswear, book publishing and art direction (FHCM, FashionUnited). FashionUnited describes it as independent for fourteen years, on the occasion of the appointment of Brice Groulier, a former chief financial officer of Jacquemus, as chief executive in April 2026 (FashionUnited). The autumn-winter 2026-2027 collection was shown at IRCAM in Paris on January 20, 2026. The brand launched there its first accessory designed outside a collaboration, a messenger bag (Numéro).

Maison Château Rouge (Paris, 2015)

Maison Château Rouge was created in 2015 by Youssouf Fofana. It is based in the Goutte d’Or, in Paris’s 18th arrondissement (Home magazine). Monocle described it in May 2022 as a streetwear brand using wax fabrics bought in the neighborhood, founded with his brother Mamadou (Monocle). An exhibition of its home objects ran at La Samaritaine from November 15, 2021 to January 10, 2022 (FashionUnited). Its third collaboration with Monoprix combines design, fashion and art: it has been sold on Monoprix.fr since November 12, 2025, then in stores from November 13 (Time Out Paris confirms it is the third collection).

Forever Vacation (France, 2017)

Forever Vacation is a French brand founded in 2017, according to its website and our interview with Flub from January 2023. According to that interview, it screen-prints its clothes in France. Its site says it was launched by one person who learned along the way. The shop is online on October 22, 2026, with a © 2026 notice, and sells the Émotion Knit collection. A sister brand, tern®, and a YouTube channel extend the project. The facts in this profile come from the brand itself: we found no recent third-party source.

Patta (Amsterdam, 2004)

Patta was founded in 2004 by Edson Sabajo and Guillaume “Gee” Schmidt, starting from rare sneakers brought back from abroad for their Amsterdam community (Design Museum Den Bosch). The museum describes it as a black-owned business. From October 23, 2026, Patta is releasing a capsule with Carhartt WIP called “Hartt and Soul”: eight pieces according to Carhartt WIP, nine according to House of Heat (article of October 19, 2026). Both sources present it as a follow-up to their 2014 collaboration. The capsule is sold in Patta’s stores in Amsterdam, London and Lagos, in some Carhartt WIP stores and online.

Kody Phillips (Brooklyn, 2014)

Kody Phillips is a New York brand run by its designer from a studio in Brooklyn (Hypebeast, May 9, 2025). It first sold directly to customers. Sources differ on the founding date: the designer places his first piece in 2014, Complex gives 2015 in its January 2025 list (Complex) and dates the first official collection to May 2024. The brand opened its first Paris showroom during the January 2025 men’s Fashion Week (Complex). On February 6, 2026, Hypebeast announced a capsule made with Intuit TurboTax for New York Fashion Week, in content sponsored by TurboTax (Hypebeast).

Brain Dead (Los Angeles, 2014)

Brain Dead is a Los Angeles brand founded in 2014 by Kyle Ng and Ed Davis (END.). It draws on skate culture, punk flyers and cult cinema. In 2026 it released two collaborations with large brands. The first, with Coach, has been available since May 29, 2026: bags, clothing, footwear and bag charms (FashionNetwork, May 19, 2026; Mr Magazine, May 27, 2026). These are product collaborations; no source we consulted reports an acquisition.

C2H4 (Los Angeles and Shanghai, 2014)

C2H4 is a menswear brand founded in 2014 by Yixi Chen (HBX). Hypebeast describes it in 2026 as based in Los Angeles and Shanghai. Its name is the chemical formula of ethylene, which sounds like “Yixi”, the founder’s name, in Chinese. The brand has worked with mastermind JAPAN, Alpha Industries, Number (N)ine and Vans (NOWFASHION). It is moving away from the seasonal calendar: its annual “012” collection had a first drop in June 2026, then an autumn drop published on its website on August 18, 2026 (Hypebeast).

How we checked

For each brand, we looked for a dated sign of activity from 2025 or 2026, the city and the year founded, then cross-checked the basic facts with at least two sources or with the brand’s own site. We use “independent” in the simple sense: no acquisition or takeover by a group in the sources consulted. The absence of an acquisition in the press is not legal proof, and we did not consult company registers. Collaborations with Nike, Coach, Monoprix, John Lewis or Carhartt WIP are product partnerships.

When two sources contradict each other, the text says so (Kody Phillips’s founding, the sale date of the Nike Shox R419). Dates taken from a page’s address, when no date is displayed, are given as the month only (FashionUnited for Labrum and Études Studio).

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Frequently asked questions

What does “independent brand” mean in this selection?

A brand that has not been bought or controlled by a group, based on the sources consulted on October 22, 2026. Collaborations with Nike, Coach, Monoprix, John Lewis or Carhartt WIP are product partnerships and do not change who owns the brand.

Why is A-COLD-WALL* no longer on the list?

Tomorrow Ltd became its sole owner, according to a February 2024 announcement, after the founder left. In November 2024, Four Marketing, a distribution agency in which Frasers Group is a shareholder, bought it from Tomorrow.

Which brands from the 2024 list are still in the selection?

Four: Forever Vacation, Yaku, Kody Phillips and C2H4. Five others are removed for lack of verifiable sources: Please Paulo Stop Cappin, Arif Ferdous, MANDOWN MMXXI, Skitzo and Harsh and Cruel.

When were these brands founded?

Between 2004 (Patta, in Amsterdam) and 2023 (Yaku, in London). The others date from 2012 (Études Studio), 2014 (Labrum, Kody Phillips, Brain Dead, C2H4), 2015 (Maison Château Rouge) or 2017 (Corteiz, Forever Vacation).

Why does the founding year of Kody Phillips vary?

The designer says he released his first “Kody Phillips” piece in 2014 (Hypebeast, May 2025). Complex gives 2015 in a January 2025 list and dates the first official collection to May 2024.

When does Corteiz’s Nike Shox R419 come out?

Sources do not give the same date. Sneakerjagers cites late October or early November 2026, Sole Retriever the holiday season. We found no official date.

Is this selection a ranking?

No. We picked ten checked brands and listed them by city, in no order of merit.

Read next

Sources

Updated October 22, 2026. Facts checked in the specialist press and on brand websites; each profile gives the source and the date.

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