Let’s be honest, when every trend gets turned into a new “core,” it can start to feel like everything’s blending into the same aesthetic. No surprise our wardrobes start to feel a little uninspired. If you’re someone who gets bored easily or just wants something that doesn’t scream algorithm-approved, finding clothes that actually feel fresh can be a bit of a mission. But don’t worry, we’ve got you. Especially if you care about craftsmanship, these five underrated designers are quietly doing their own thing, making pieces that break the mould and bring some fun and individuality back to getting dressed.
SF 1 OG
Started in Rosa Marga Dahl’s one-room apartment, SF1OG is a Berlin-based label that took shape during her fashion design studies. She now co-directs it with Jacob Langemeyer, who manages the label. The name, short for Seitenflügel 1. Obergeschoss (German for “side wing, first floor”), refers to its modest beginnings, but the brand’s vision is far from small. Blending a sharp sense of the now with references from the past, SF1OG creates clothing that feels both current and enduring. Their debut Autumn/Winter 2022 collection set the tone early on, with a strong commitment to sustainability, gender inclusivity, and thoughtful craftsmanship.
Their work is divided into three distinct lines:
101 Line features one-of-a-kind garments made from repurposed, often antique materials.
013 Line offers handmade pieces produced in Europe using deadstock or responsibly sourced new fabrics.
133 Line includes accessories and jewelry that round out their design language.
While still relatively new, SF1OG has already earned attention from notable publications such as Vogue Runway, 032c, and i-D to name a few. In 2023, the brand was awarded the UGG Culture Changemaker Prize, a testament to its growing influence and dedication to pushing fashion forward with care and purpose.
Masnada
If your style leans minimalist but you still want something with an edge, Masnada might just be your match. This Italian avant-garde label, founded in 2006 by Moreno Ferrari, isn’t loud, but it doesn’t need to be. Rooted in a philosophy of innovation and a search for beauty beyond convention, Masnada treats fashion as a form of fluid expression. Drawing from art, architecture, and the rhythm of urban life, the brand creates pieces that blend quiet precision with subtle experimentation. Clean lines, unusual silhouettes, and refined details come together in a palette of muted tones, making each piece feel distinct without demanding attention. Masnada offers depth and character for those who prefer their statement pieces to speak in softer volumes.
Egnarts
Seoul-based label Egnarts, short for “Easy and Arts” and also “strange” spelled in reverse, is all about embracing the unfamiliar. The name itself suggests a playful contradiction: that what feels strange can also be beautiful when approached with ease. The brand challenges the instinctive resistance we often have toward the unfamiliar, using design as a way to soften that tension. Through a mix of wit and intentional awkwardness, Egnarts creates space between contrast and cohesion, crafting pieces that sit somewhere between what’s known and what’s unexpected.
This philosophy comes through in clothing that feels effortless yet quietly subversive. Think clean, relaxed silhouettes reimagined with asymmetrical details, gently exaggerated proportions, and offbeat elements that add just enough disruption to keep things interesting. The palette stays neutral, with tones like cream, grey, and muted earth shades that make the pieces easy to style while still feeling considered. Look closer and you’ll notice subtle design gestures, misaligned seams, sculptural pleats, or irregular stitching, that turn simplicity into something quietly distinctive. Egnarts doesn’t demand attention, it earns it, inviting you to take a second look.
Elena Velez
Elena Velez takes a raw, hands-on approach to fashion, shaped by the industrial spirit of her hometown, Milwaukee. Now based in New York, she draws from the metalworking traditions of the American Midwest, grounding her work in craftsmanship, resourcefulness, and creative constraint. A big part of her process involves working with local artisans and using salvaged or site-specific materials, things that carry grit, history, and texture.
Her designs balance softness and strength, embracing imperfection and function over polish or prettiness. At its core, her work explores the tension between femininity and force. The clothes feel tactile and purposeful, yet still romantic. Sharp tailoring meets rough edges, with raw hems, misaligned seams, exposed boning, and distressed hardware. Handmade corsets, sculptural dresses, and utility-inspired separates come together in pieces that feel both crafted and lived in. Elena Velez doesn’t just design, she builds. The result is clothing that feels like it was forged rather than sewn, full of attitude, emotion, and presence.
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen is an artist and fashion designer based in New York City. She finds beauty in the old and overlooked, breathing new life into forgotten fabrics like antique lace, discarded linens, tea towels, and tablecloths. These worn materials are transformed into sculptural pieces that move with the body, blending softness with quiet strength. Inspired by mediaeval silhouettes and Victorian ideas of shaping the body, Zoe offers a way of dressing that feels both rooted in the past and completely of the moment.
Every piece is draped, patterned, and sewn by hand in her Brooklyn studio, with care and intention behind each step. Her designs aren’t just clothes, they carry stories, memories, and a sense of transformation. Since starting her label in 2022, Zoe has shown her collections through immersive performances at New York Fashion Week, and her work has been recognised by the CFDA, SFC, and featured in publications like Vogue, i-D, Dazed, and The New York Times.
Despite all these brand recommendations and the push to bring individuality back into how we dress, it’s not really about rejecting trends or hunting down the most obscure labels. It’s about feeling good in what you wear and letting your style reflect who you are. Whether that means bold and unexpected or simple and familiar, the best kind of fashion is the kind that feels true to you.
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written by Erica Zheng Jia Xin @br4in_f4rt