Seven London Streetwear Brands, and Where to Buy Them
By MNEEMO7 min read
FIG. 01 · TONAL TAILORING IN A CONCRETE BASEMENT.
London streetwear brands to know: Corteiz, Palace, Trapstar, A-COLD-WALL*, Aries, Martine Rose and Wales Bonner. Who started them and where to buy.
The London streetwear brands to know right now are Corteiz, Palace, Trapstar, A-COLD-WALL*, Aries, Martine Rose and Wales Bonner. For shops you can walk into, go to Soho: Palace opened a new flagship at 8 Poland Street on 5 November 2026, and Aries has its store on Great Pulteney Street. Corteiz has no shop at all. It sells in password drops and pop-ups. And two of these designers now have top jobs in Paris: Grace Wales Bonner at Hermès, and Martine Rose at Balenciaga from 16 November.
London streetwear grew up in skate shops, on MySpace and on a borrowed sofa. Here are the seven names, how each one started, and where you can actually buy them.
| Brand | Started | Known for | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corteiz | 2017, Clint Ogbenna (Clint419) | Alcatraz logo, password drops, Nike Air Max 95 | corteiz.com drops and pop-ups only |
| Palace | 2009, Lev Tanju and Gareth Skewis | The triangle logo, weekly drops, adidas and Nike | 8 Poland Street, Soho |
| Trapstar | About 2006, Mikey Aryee, Lee Langaigne, Will Thomas | "It's A Secret" | Its own site and Footasylum |
| A-COLD-WALL* | 2015, Samuel Ross | Industrial British sportswear | Harrods, Selfridges, its own site |
| Aries | 2009, Sofia Prantera and Fergus Purcell | The temple logo, New Balance, Arsenal, M&S | 31 Great Pulteney Street, Soho |
| Martine Rose | 2007, Martine Rose | Menswear shows in everyday London places, Nike Shox mule | martine-rose.com |
| Wales Bonner | 2014, Grace Wales Bonner | adidas Samba collaborations | walesbonner.com, adidas |
Corteiz
Clint Ogbenna, known as Clint419, started Corteiz in 2017. He told Dazed he began it while sleeping on his sisters' sofa in a Stamford Hill flatshare. The logo is Alcatraz, the prison island, with the line "Rules The World". The website is locked with a password that changes for each drop, and pop-ups are announced with GPS coordinates on the day. In 2022 it sold cargo trousers for 99p, and ran a jacket swap where the old jackets went to homeless people. Nike made three city versions of the Air Max 95 with Corteiz in 2023, for London, New York and Paris. This autumn came the Nike Shox R419, a shoe named after Clint, launched at a pop-up in Tokyo.
Palace
Lev Tanju and Gareth Skewis met in the Southbank skate scene and both worked at Slam City Skates. They started Palace in London in 2009. The name comes from the shared flat the crew called "the Palace". Its triangle logo, the Tri-Ferg, was drawn by Fergus Purcell, who also co-founded Aries. Palace has worked with adidas since 2014, and with Gucci in 2022. Its first Nike collection came out in October 2025. With Nike it also turned a Victorian bathhouse at 33 Manor Place, Elephant and Castle, into a free skatepark with an underground football pitch, open since 11 November 2025. On 5 November 2026 Palace moved from Brewer Street to a two floor flagship at 8 Poland Street. A Burberry capsule is sold only there, in person.
Trapstar
Mikey Aryee, Lee Langaigne and Will Thomas started Trapstar around 2006. The first T-shirts were sold through MySpace and hand delivered in pizza boxes and washing powder boxes, Complex reported. Its first stockist was the Supra shop on Portobello Road, and around 2010 the founders opened their own shop on the same street. The slogan is "It's A Secret". Fans named in the trade press include Jay-Z, Rihanna, Stormzy and Central Cee. In May 2026 the company behind it went into administration, and the retailer Footasylum bought the business. FashionUnited says the founders keep creative control, and Trapstar is now sold in Footasylum stores.
A-COLD-WALL*
Samuel Ross started A-COLD-WALL* in London in 2015 (some sources say 2014). The brand calls itself "a British sportswear brand inspired by the legacy of national industry". Ross won Emerging Menswear Designer at The Fashion Awards 2018, the same year as his Nike Zoom Vomero +5 collection. He stepped away in 2024 when Tomorrow Ltd bought the brand, and later that year it was sold on to Four Marketing, whose biggest shareholder is Frasers Group. You can buy it at Harrods and Selfridges. For music fans, the date to know is Wednesday 25 November: the brand and BACARDÍ take over Village Underground in Shoreditch to show their new capsule, with a live DJ set from Overmono, joined by Mia Koden b2b re:ni and MJK. A limited number of free tickets are on DICE.
Aries
Sofia Prantera and Fergus Purcell met in the 1990s working at Slam City Skates, the same shop as Palace's founders. Prantera dates Aries to 2009; some articles say 2012. Its first shop opened in April 2023 at 31 Great Pulteney Street, Soho, over two floors, and since April 2026 it has the Jolene bakery inside. Aries first made trainers with New Balance in 2018, did Arsenal's first streetwear collaboration in 2024, and in August 2026 brought back the old St Michael label with Marks and Spencer.
Martine Rose
Martine Rose was born in Croydon in 1980 and started her label in 2007. She is known for menswear shows in everyday London places: her show for autumn and winter 2020 was held in a primary school in Kentish Town. She has worked with Nike since 2018, and her Shox MR4 mule came out in 2022. She won British Menswear Designer at The Fashion Awards 2023. On 6 November 2026, Kering named her creative director of Balenciaga, starting on 16 November and based in Paris. Dazed says the future of her own label is not clear yet.
Wales Bonner
Grace Wales Bonner was born in South London in 1990 and started her label in 2014, after Central Saint Martins. She won the LVMH Prize in 2016. Her first adidas collection was shown at London Fashion Week in January 2020 and went on sale that November, with two versions of the Samba. Fashion writers credit it with bringing the Samba back. She won British Menswear Designer at The Fashion Awards 2024. She has shown in Paris since 2023, and in October 2025 Hermès named her head of menswear. Her first Hermès collection is due in January 2027.
London streetwear in 2026
Trapstar's company goes into administration. Footasylum buys the business days later.
Aries and Marks and Spencer bring back the St Michael label.
Palace opens its new flagship at 8 Poland Street, Soho.
Martine Rose starts as creative director of Balenciaga.
A-COLD-WALL* and BACARDÍ launch night at Village Underground, with Overmono.
The Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall. None of the seven is nominated this year.
Grace Wales Bonner's first menswear collection for Hermès.
To me the most interesting thing in that list is where two of the designers are going. Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner both built their names in London, and both now hold top jobs at Paris houses. In 2025 the British Fashion Council dropped London's June menswear week, and Rose showed off schedule that June instead. The ideas still start here. The money and the big shows end up in Paris.
As a DJ, I see the same thing in club music. The labels that matter start small, sell to people who already know, and the rest of the world catches up later. Corteiz with its passwords and Palace with its Friday drops work the same way as a white label record. If you want the London dancefloor side of all this, start with what to wear to a rave, and the afterparty side in the London Fashion Week afterparties guide.
Sources
- Dazed, Clint interview, "Clint rules the world", spring 2023 issue, 14 March 2023
- Complex, Corteiz: everything to know, Lei Takanashi, 15 January 2026
- Wikipedia, Corteiz (citing GQ and Drapers)
- Time Out Tokyo, Corteiz and Nike Shox R419 pop-up, 10 November 2026
- Dazed, life lessons from the minds behind Palace, 4 November 2026
- Wallpaper*, the new Palace flagship in London, 4 November 2026; Luxe Digital, Palace Soho flagship and Burberry capsule, 4 November 2026
- Palace Skateboards, London shop page
- Nike newsroom, Nike and Palace open Manor Place, 31 October 2025; Time Out London, the Victorian bathhouse skatepark, 6 November 2025
- Wikipedia, Palace Skateboards
- Complex, Mikey Trapstar on how to start a brand, Karizza Sanchez, 7 April 2015
- Vice, meet Mikey Trapstar, 11 July 2013
- Interpath, the future of Trapstar secured with Footasylum, June 2026; FashionUnited, Footasylum partners with Trapstar, 4 June 2026
- A-COLD-WALL*, brand page, stores page and ACW* x BACARDÍ page, read 15 November 2026
- FashionUnited, Tomorrow Ltd acquires A-COLD-WALL*, February 2024; FashionUnited, Four Marketing buys A-COLD-WALL*, November 2024
- Wikipedia, Samuel Ross
- Dazed, Sofia Prantera interview, 15 April 2025; Complex, inside Aries' London store, 6 June 2023
- Time Out London, Aries opens its first store, 21 April 2023; Time Out London, Jolene's first central London site, 9 April 2026
- Retail Gazette, M&S and Aries, 17 August 2026; FashionUnited, Arsenal and Aries, October 2024
- Kering, Martine Rose appointed creative director of Balenciaga, 6 November 2026; Dazed, on the appointment, 6 November 2026
- Wikipedia, Martine Rose; Nike newsroom, Shox MR4 release; Highsnobiety, Martine Rose SS26
- British Fashion Council, Fashion Awards winners 2018, 2023 and 2024, and nominees for 2026 (16 September 2026)
- adidas news, the first Wales Bonner collection, 17 November 2020
- Wallpaper*, Wales Bonner named head of menswear at Hermès, 21 October 2025; Euronews, 23 October 2025
- Wikipedia, Grace Wales Bonner (citing WWD and The New York Times)
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