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This week in Stockholm, during the Swedish Fashion Council’s annual fashion event SFC[X], local ready-to-wear label Our Legacy announced a collaboration with Emporio Armani, dropping next Friday. It’s Our Legacy's first luxury tie-up via its Work Shop line and marks its growing influence on men’s fashion, as the market moves away from streetwear towards more considered, design-led clothes.
Our Legacy was founded in 2005 in Stockholm by friends Jockum Hallin, Christopher Nying and Richardos Klarén. The brand has boomed in the last three years, thanks to a growing community of fans across the US, Korea, the UK and beyond. Sales have grown 80 per cent year-on-year since 2021, reaching €30 million in fiscal year 2023 ending June, according to the brand..
Known for its wide leg denim, off-kilter design signatures like asymmetric stitching and signature Camion leather boots, Our Legacy’s not-so-basics retail from €150-€1,500. The brand has 250 stockists, up from 200 at the start of 2023. It has flagships in Stockholm, London and Berlin, and opened a store in Seoul this year. Our Legacy doesn’t focus on trends, instead seeking inspiration from vintage or archival fashion and subcultures. Fans of the brand recognise the label from the placement of a stitch or the quality of the denim, rather than a logo.
Now, the founders are navigating the shift to becoming a major brand. “You can never describe yourself as cult,” Hallin and Nying agree, speaking from their Stockholm HQ. “To have a passionate customer is beautiful. But we’re 18 years into the game. For many years we’ve been seen as the new ‘brand to watch out for’ or ‘the new kid on the block’,” says Hallin, who heads up the Work Shop collections and business operations. “It’s interesting more recently to see this growth.”
The founders credit some of their recent success to the pandemic. Cash flow difficulties forced the team to “clean up” their systems, half the headcount to around 15 people and trim the collections down. The silver lining was this led them to distil the vision. “Suddenly, it was easier for the end consumer to find the bestselling jeans and camion boots, in a smaller edit of products,” says Hallin.
The market also shifted, as they refined their offering. Since 2021, growth in sneakers and streetwear has slowed, and amid the quiet luxury boom, the new generation of menswear customers want high-quality and cult brands that have the “if you know you know” effect. In light of this, major luxury houses that previously focused on streetwear tie-ins have shifted their collaboration strategies, to pull in cult contemporary labels. Alongside Armani x Our Legacy, Zegna tapped LA-based relaxed tailoring and casualwear label Fear of God in 2020, and most recently launched a collaboration with knitwear label The Elder Statesman in September.
Mr Porter launched Our Legacy in Spring/Summer 2012 collection, and the Camion Boot, Fuzzy Evening Polo and Third Cut Jeans often sell out as soon as they hit the site, says buying director Daniel Todd. Mr Porter has invested “heavily” into the brand for Spring/Summer 2024, more than tripling the buy, he says. “We’ve seen further growth opportunities with their assortment of best-selling core styles and ‘buy-now-wear-now’ fashion drops.”
In Our Legacy stores, customers frequently quiz sales associates about fabrication and fit, sometimes even trying to top trump their knowledge, the founders say. The founders are careful to engage with the community but not change the brand or its vision based on direct feedback, to avoid falling into trends. A key example: when skinny jeans were all the rage back in the noughties, Our Legacy launched wide leg, which has gradually become a bestseller. “You work super tight on a launch and then you need to stay away from the phone for a while,” Hallin laughs.
Our Legacy Work Shop: Bringing the buzz
As orders steadily grew, overstock and offcuts began to mount in the Our Legacy studio. So, the brand launched its upcycled Our Legacy Work Shop collection in 2016, with a new store containing deadstock, samples and recycled pieces. But, it was in 2020 when Our Legacy first collaborated with Stüssy on a Work Shop collection, using Stüssy and Our Legacy deadstock, that Work Shop became a major brand awareness play abroad.
US leading menswear podcast Throwing Fits hosts James Harris and Lawrence Schlossman, major fans of Our Legacy who have arguably helped the US become its leading market, described it at the time as “the only collaboration right now that makes sense”. The longstanding collab has also helped the brand reach a new and unlikely audience, says Todd. Since then, Our Legacy Work Shop has released collaborations with brands like Dr Martens, Denim Tears, Vans and retailer Dover Street Market. “Work Shop isn’t necessarily financially a big thing for the business [compared to the main line] but it does mean more people know who we are,” Hallin says.
Our Legacy Work Shop is dropped online as soon as it’s presented, while main line is seasonal. As it grows, the founders are weighing a runway show instead of their usual lookbook or activations. “We’ve never liked feeling forced to do anything,” says Hallin. Instead, they’ve previously prioritised events like their Dream Market pop-up at retailer Slam Jam during Milan men’s SS24 in June. Or working with photographers and creatives they admire, like Mark Borthwick, who shot the Armani campaign. “Maybe we will do a show one day, but it has to feel unexpected,” Hallin says, “if other brands try new formats, maybe then it’s our time to try a show.”
After the Armani launch at Dover Street Market next Thursday, Our Legacy is turning its attention to the next collection, and international retail expansion. The US is now Our Legacy’s biggest market overall, while the UK and Korea lead in terms of DTC sales. Our Legacy will open four more stores over the next five years. In addition to Seoul, the founders have their sights set on key cities like Milan, Paris, New York or LA. “With this momentum — growing organically, having a little bit more money each season — we have bigger opportunities to think about [than putting on a show],” says Hallin. “It’s an exciting time.”
Correction: The story was updated to reflect that Our Legacy revenues hit €30 million in fiscal year 2023, ending June. A previous version of this story stated this was expected 2023 revenue.
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