While designed by Abloh, Off-White is produced and sold by New Guards Group, a Milan based holding firm founded by Marcelo Burlon (designer of County of Milan), David Antonioli and David de Giglio. Though Off-White is the crown jewel, the group also boasts a number of other labels in the luxury streetwear space, including fan favorite Palm Angels. Designed by Francesco Ragazzi, Palm Angels started in 2014 as a coffee table book. Ragazzi—then an art director at Moncler–spent months in Los Angeles documenting LA skate culture, taking black-and-white photos of skaters, the beach and life in Venice. Ragazzi became enamored with the overall aesthetic of Los Angeles and in 2015 presented his new label, a reflection of his time in LA and appreciation for how the skaters, beach bums and stoners that proliferate the streets of Venice and Santa Monica dress. While the labels core offering is standard streetwear (graphic tees, hoodies, sweats, etc), Ragazzi’s past at Moncler and Italian sensibilities add a technical edge and Italian flair including strong outerwear, eccentric tailoring and lots of tracksuits. Add a sprinkle of Los Angeles—distressed straight leg denim, vintage thrift vibes, pot leaf motifs—and Palm Angels is pushing a new sort of streetwear aesthetic. Given its close association to Off-White courtesy of New Guards Group, Palm Angels is part of the hoard of labels pushing luxury streetwear forward. Yet, with less obvious branding and clear passion for California, Palm Angels is a perfect fit for those looking to step out of the Off-White mold.

When Abloh founded the DJ collective #BEENTRILL# with Matthew Williams, Justin Saunders and Heron Preston, the four were all internet friends and Kanye-affiliates hoping to fill what they felt was a void in nightlife. Over six years later, each has gone on to make a significant impact on street culture and fashion at large. Off the three former collaborators, Preston’s eponymous line is the most similar to Off-White, in terms of both aesthetic and direction. Preston began screen printing shirts for himself and friends years ago, first with his cult favorite “bootleg” series—Givenchy, NASCAR, etc—then for #BEENTRILL#. As the #BEENTRILL# merch eventually took off, Preston started working more closely with West on everything from Yeezus merch to Yeezy show invites. Alongside his work for West and with #BEENTRILL#, Preston produced long sleeve mock-necks with “style” written across the neck in cyrillic, which became a street staple. With an eye on sustainability, Preston presented his first full-fledged capsule in 2016 in collaboration with the Department of Sanitation of New York. Following the DSNY collection, Williams and Abloh introduced Preston to New Guards Group who he ultimately struck a deal with. The designer then presented his inaugural Heron Preston Fall/Winter 2017 menswear collection at Paris Fashion Week. With brand signatures such as his “heron”—the bird, a play on his name—t-shirts, logo’d out anoraks, matrix esque glasses and luxe sweats, Preston’s line occupies a similar lane to Off-White. Yet with his predilection for bold colors (safety worker orange is a regular) and more subtle branding, Preston’s focus is more geared towards influencer culture, sustainability and youth as opposed to identifying and blurring style tropes.

While Abloh and Preston explore fairly similar design tropes, the other fashion line born from #BEENTRILL# is decidedly more gritty. Launched in 2015, Matthew Williams’ 1017 ALYX 9SM (aka ALYX) is the designer’s interpretation of the modern wardrobe. Exploring themes of bondage, military, sport and street, ALYX has captured the fashion world by storm with its aggressive style, utilitarian aesthetic and tactical sensibilities. While best known for its celebrated rollercoaster belt and chest rig—both of which launched an avalanche of imitators—ALYX is a full ready to wear fashion line, just as likely to produce activewear in collaboration with Nike as it is to make military cargos equipped with harness chains. Although farther removed from streetwear, ALYX is still very much a reflection of Williams’ skater upbringing, presenting a strong collection of graphic tees and hoodies each season to accompany the more austere outerwear and tailoring. As far as Williams is concerned, the logo-flip long sleeve is just as valuable as rugged broken leather side-zip boots—a sentiment his consumers seem to hold as well. Whereas at Off-White streetwear and fashion are two sides of the same coin, at ALYX they are both part of a continuum, including everything from sneakers to taped seam water-resistant leather anoraks. For the next generation of contemporary luxury, ALYX has no rival.

While a lesser known name, Martine Rose has pushed the streetwear as luxury aesthetic for well over a decade. A regular at raves in Britain during the ‘90s, Rose was one of the first in her generation to look at British youth and club culture and incorporate those elements into her collections. More interested in football kits and trainers than Saville Row tailoring, the British-Jamaican pushed the boundaries of contemporary men’s fashion for years before Umbro and New Balance on runways was the norm. Her clothing–ski jackets, cropped dad jeans, chunky loafers and Nike Air Maxs—set the precedent for an entire generation of young designers and through her work at Balenciaga where she oversees menswear (Demna Gvasalia is a friend), she has a wider audience than ever. Unlike Off-White, which is streetwear masquerading as high-fashion, Rose’s work is high-fashion masquerading as sportswear, both on the pulse yet first and foremost design driven. While Off-White may explore the boundaries between streetwear and luxury, Martine Rose broke them years ago. Industry recognition aside, Rose simply makes great clothes that—like Off-White—are unmistakably Martine Rose. Without strong logos or branding, apart from here subtle rubberized logo, that is a feat in and of itself.

Although originally founded in 2010, Y/Project came into its own in 2013 following the appointment of current creative director Glenn Martens. Initially a gothic leaning label, the French brand took a decidedly modern turn when Martens—a graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in his native Belgium—took control. Blending contemporary style with historical references, Y/Project collections range from its controversial mult-hem denim to thigh-high uggs and suiting in comical proportions. Yet, right alongside these camp items are references to Dutch masters and the rich architectural history of Northern Europe. Like Abloh with his Carvaggio hoodies, Marten emblazons iconic European portraits (Napoleon, Joséphine de Beauharnais) on everything from hoodies to the backside of trench coats. The result is a brand that varies greatly from season to season but is consistently culturally poignant. Similarly to Off-White, off-beat collaboration is a Y/Project signature, from the aforementioned Uggs to entirely square sunglasses produced by Linda Farrow. Unlike Abloh’s label though, Y/Project explores fashion that splices ancient form with European mall brands rather than American streetwear. The result is entirely different, yet just as vital a comment on the state of the industry. If questioning norms is what attracted you to Off-White in the first place, Y/Project is posing the right kind of questions.