Lack of Guidance's Counter Attack

Fashion is undergoing a sea change right now, as luxury houses trade creative directors, battle over celebrity endorsements and frantically try to find new ways of engaging with the next generation. As the big players take their strategies back to the drawing board, there’s room for a fresh swathe of brands to come up between the gaps, intent on doing things differently. Dedicated to creating communities rooted in authenticity, they’re opening up conversations with their customers rather than talking at them, and bringing them into the fold. It’s a symbiotic relationship, and it seems to be working.

Among them is Lack of Guidance. Founded out of ­Amsterdam in 2016 by former graphic designer Akaar Amin, the label started out with Amin plastering his artwork over wholesale blank T-shirts before transforming into a fully fledged operation over the course of the last decade. The label is known for its striking football-indebted streetwear—or ­soccer, depending on where you are in the world—and now offers a full ready-to-wear line alongside its punchy sports jerseys. Lack of Guidance draws inspiration from iconic football kits through history, but never gets too bogged down in nostalgia. Its clothes breathe new life into old classics, ­updating them for a fresh new wave of footie fanatics.