I’m a Fashion Editor & These Are the 9 Brands I’m Most Excited About in 2022

We all get stuck in style ruts sometimes, visiting the same stores or outfits over and over again, but as a fashion editor, I feel it is my duty to always be on the hunt for interesting new brands to both share with fashion obsessed readers, like you, and to keep my own wardrobe looking and feeling fresh. And while there are always tons of new labels to explore, these nine are the ones I am currently obsessing over. From sustainable Y2K-inspired knitwear to architectural leather handbags and lots and lots of glitter, these are the brands I’m turning to in 2022 to refresh my style.

This London-based brand has been around for a little while, but its super-bright, rainbow-hued pieces have really blown up in the past few months. I expect they’ll only continue to grow in popularity, especially given that bold, colorful outfits are already shaping up to be the biggest trend of the year. Olivia Rubin’s adventurous knitwear and flirty dresses definitely have a Y2K feel, but they also never go too juvenile and manage to strike that challenging sweet spot between nostalgic and grown-up. Even better, sizes range from XS up to a 3XL, making it one of the most inclusive new brands to pop up on my radar.

I came across Brandon Blackwood in a recent search for brands like Telfar. Similarly, the accessories brand is a BIPOC-led company owned and operated by its namesake designer, who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and specializes in covetable handbags that won’t break the bank. However, Blackwood’s designs are more varied, both in silhouette and price (some of this more elaborate pieces run into the four-digit range). I’ve been seeing the Sly shoulder bag and the Kendrick trunk bag popping up everywhere on Instagram, both on the arms of well-established fashion influencers and friends who simply love to shop. I’m calling it now, Brandon Blackwood is definitely going to be a must-have in 2022, for anyone and everyone.

Area made a splash last year with its over-the-top glam accessories, most notably its rhinestone headpieces, which were a big hit with brides looking for cool veil alternatives. The NYC-based brand also makes clothing, almost always adorned with crystals, glitter or gems of some kind, that feels festive, fun and fits right in with the current trend of dopamine dressing. In fact, designers Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Pansczczyk named their brand after the iconic ‘80s Manhattan nightclub, Area, and take inspiration from the wild, artsy party clothes of its patrons, including Bianca Jagger, Grace Jones and Andy Warhol. Street style stars (and this fashion editor) have been loving the brand’s combination of structured silhouettes and excessive glittery embellishments, so get ready to see a whole lot more glam flooding your Instagram feed.

Coperni first came onto my radar while I was scrolling through street style images for an article and noticed that seemingly every person attending fashion month last autumn was carrying the same simple, oval-shaped handbag. According to Lyst, I’m not the only person whose interest was piqued by these stylish carryalls—searches for the Parisian brand’s shoulder bags have increased by more than 90 percent year-on-year. Co-founders Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant established the brand in 2013 with a space-age aesthetic that’s reminiscent of ‘60s Mod, but less campy and with a slight rock-n-roll edge. Coperni’s bags are already something of an It item, but I expect their popularity to really blow up in the coming months, as will the ready-to-wear pieces, which have already been spotted on celebs like Maisie Williams and Bella Hadid.

Peter Do launched his namesake brand back in 2018, and was an instant hit with fashion industry insiders, but it appears his reach has finally extended beyond just editors and photographers. Anya Taylor-Joy wore one of his dresses to host SNL in May 2021, causing a 128 percent spike in searches for the brand, and there was another major bump in search traffic after the brand’s fashion week debut in September. In fact, pageviews for Peter Do skyrocketed by 376 percent in just 24 hours after the runway show. The Vietnamese designer started his career working under Phoebe Philo at Céline and then Derek Lam, and you can see their influences in his beautifully fluid tailoring. Get ready to see a lot more celebs sporting his gorgeous professional-yet-easy pieces on the regular.

Much like Area, Mach & Mach is all about the glamorous life and made a splash with its gorgeous bow-adorned pointy-toe heels in 2020. But things really took off after Megan Fox wore a head-to-toe Barbie pink look designed by the brand to the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Although the brand only officially launched its ready-to-wear collection for spring ’22, along with handbags, I can already tell it’s going to be a popular go-to for red carpets and musical performances. The Tbilisi-based brand, founded by sister duo Nina and Gvantsa Macharashvili, doesn’t appear to have a website of its own, but it is stocked by Nordstrom, Net-a-Porter and Moda Operandi.

I first spotted a Ree Projects bag while scrolling through Shopbop and immediately fell in love with the structural yet fluid design aesthetic. And it appears that I am not the only one—the bags have swiftly become one of the most hearted brands on the site, and have also gained popularity at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and FarFetch. The brand was first launched in Amsterdam in 2016 by BIPOC designer Desiree Kleinen, but after a global launch in 2019, Ree Projects has slowly but surely been gaining a cult following of fashionistas who resonate with her ethos of crafting luxury bags that “emphasize a woman’s strength, her pure beauty and personality.” Ree Projects is also dedicated to sustainability, and has an outline available on its site detailing its efforts.

Some folks may already be familiar with this Italian brand, launched by influencers-turned-designers Giorgia Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio, but I think it’s really on the verge of becoming a household name (at least in the houses of the fashion-obsessed). Much like Area and Mach & Mach, Attico’s most popular pieces are unabashedly glamorous with plenty of sparkle—like glittery skirts, party-ready mini dresses and lame blazers—but the brand is also a fan of ‘90s-inspired tailoring, bold colors and architectural bags and shoes that, while certainly attention-grabbing, also work for everyday wear. (Apparently their ultimate design inspo is Cher, which I can 100 percent get on board with and which feels very 2022.)