The Stylish Insider

Birkenstock sits down with Lyrical Lemonade ’s Cole Bennett for the latest installment in their Birkenstories series. What started out as a high school music blog in Plano, Illinois, grew into a global multimedia company. From designing the original Lyrical Lemonade logo in a classroom to directing music videos for Juice WRLD, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Drake, and Kanye West, Cole Bennett has built a career driven by creativity, independence, and an unstoppable entrepreneurial spirit. In the video, Cole opens up about how Lyrical Lemonade began as a teenage passion project and the breakthrough that changed his career directing Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams.” He also shares why he sees filmmaking as a form of painting, how he created Summer Smash, which bills itself as the world's largest independent hip-hop festival, and what inspires his creative process. To cap the interview off, Cole shares what’s next for him, including his new Birkenstock collaboration.

LA-based streetwear and lifestyle fashion brand Kixnkarbs and hip-hop curator, A&R representative, and artist manager Dough Networkz appear to have developed a strong creative relationship over the last few months. With the release of his next record, NBTR , quickly approaching, Dough Networkz (real name Lafayette Carpenter) announced that all apparel for the album would be manufactured by Kixnkarbs, which will soon be made available for purchase. However, fans of both Kixnkarbs and Dough Networkz will not have to wait to get a taste of what awaits them when these two entities join forces because on October 3rd, a collaborative project based on G. Perico ’s song entitled “Clearing My Mind” from the Dough Networkz 2025 album Dis for the Project is scheduled for release. The collaboration includes both a hoodie and a graphic tee, which feature lyrics from the G. Perico track, Dough Networkz Doughboy artwork, and Kixnkarbs’   Love Always (the company’s sub-label) branding. B...

Christian Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson visits Dior Heritage in Paris with Vogue to explore some of the house’s most cherished archive pieces. First up is the Bar jacket, the defining silhouette of Dior’s revolutionary 1947 New Look. Next is La Cigale, a sculptural 1952 dress and one of Anderson’s personal favorites. Its shape directly inspired his own Dior Cigale bag. He then turns to the Junon dress, Dior’s spectacular 1949 creation covered in layers of iridescent embroidery shaped like petals. The surviving piece is now so fragile it can only be displayed lying flat. Deeper in the archives, Jonathan finds the original charts for the Spring/Summer 1949 haute couture collection, a glimpse into how the house meticulously documented its work. Along the way, he also explores another side of Dior’s legacy, his often overlooked business savvy.

Matty Boy goes beneath the surface with his new single “Ocean” featuring Clever . Produced by Vidal Garcia , “Ocean” finds Matty Boy reflecting on the experiences that have shaped him while confronting the emotional weight he continues to carry. The song is an introspective look at pain, betrayal, trauma, and the struggle to keep moving forward when life feels overwhelming. Using the ocean as a metaphor for the heavy pressures surrounding him, Matty Boy moves between vulnerability and defiance. He opens up about post-traumatic nightmares, addiction, and betrayal, but makes it clear he refuses to be defined by them. Lines about writing his secrets in the sand so they wash away show his desire to release the past, even when letting go is difficult. Directed by Noel Bell of Noble Cinema , the music video brings these themes to life in Matty Boy’s city Vacaville, California. Dressed in all-black with designer sunglasses and a gold clover pendant, Matty Boy performs in a peaceful orch...

John Geiger has been an important name in the independent luxury sneaker community for some time now. While the Pittsburgh-born designer first made a name for himself working in tandem with Nike and his childhood friend Darrell Revis to develop the Nike Zoom Revis 1 in 2012 and his 2015 viral custom “Misplaced Checks” project (in collaboration with The Shoe Surgeon) on the Nike Air Force 1, his success only continued to blossom with the launch of his own company, John Geiger Co., in 2017. Geiger produces its own high-end branded apparel, accessories, and, of course, sneakers. The company’s sneaker offerings have a well-deserved positive reputation for quality, meticulous craftsmanship, longevity, and style. One of Geiger’s most popular silhouettes, the 004, is a low-top running sneaker that provides the wearer with all-day comfort due to an upper built from a custom mesh and a popcorn-style midsole made with a soft EVA foam. The 004 also delivers strong stability thanks to a KPU/TPU...

On this episode of  The Complex Style Podcast , hosts Aria Hughes and Chris Chance sit down with celebrity jeweler Alex Moss to talk about his rise in the industry. Alex shares how he got his start after running his first brand Bandit Clothing Co., and tells the stories behind his most famous pieces. He breaks down the details of Drake’s “Previous Engagements” and “Crown Jewel of Toronto” chains, ASAP Rocky’s favorite chain, Playboi Carti’s ruby lollipop, and his custom work for Tyler, the Creator. Alex also gets real about the business, explaining why he refuses to give celebrities free jewelry, sharing his thoughts on Tiffany & Co. today, and exposing the truth about lab-grown diamonds, joking that your lunch costs more than the stone. To wrap up, he shouts out his biggest repeat clients and plays a rapid-fire game about fashion grails and trends.

If you know good jeans, you know about Japanese denim, and perhaps no brand has a more loyal following than Iron Heart . Founded by Shinichi Haraki , a 69-year-old Japanese biker, the brand has inspired a fierce community known as the “Iron Heart Army.” These fans gather on an old-school internet forum to discuss everything from cotton origins and shuttle looms to fading competitions and daily life. The Wall Street Journal explores how Haraki built this coveted brand, tracing the story from the initial denim obsession and Iron Heart’s origins to the rise of Japanese denim and its capital. The feature also walks through the detailed making of the jeans, the dedicated community that wears them, and the brand’s future.

Queens fashion house aBit New York and sneaker historian and social media influencer Kenneth Myers, Jr. (AKA Mr. Unloved 1s ) have collaborated to bring meaningful streetwear to the stylish insiders among us in the form of a special, limited edition hoodie that sends a message that is equally important to both partners. The design is inspiring, and that is not simply because of the painstaking thought and care that went into its creation. Nor is it just because the hoodie is made of the kind of high quality materials one would expect from aBit New York . What makes this hoodie so remarkable is the story it tells, one that both the brand and Myers believe in so strongly: that life is never easy, that it seems new obstacles are constantly emerging from out of nowhere to thwart our attempts to realize our own happiness. This hoodie acknowledges this truth, but also that by embracing positivity instead of pessimism, that through perseverance, one can rise above the challenges that seem...

Pusha T has rapped about watches for over 20 years. In the latest episode of Hodinkee ’s Talking Watches , the Clipse rapper joins Ben Clymer to reveal the collection behind the lyrics. They speak about his early Rolex Submariners, factory-set Day-Dates, favorite Daytonas, and the watch he waited nearly a decade to own. Pusha T also shares his strict collecting rules of dealing with authorized dealers only, factory diamonds, and no aftermarket modifications. It’s a candid look at taste and the role watches have played throughout his career.

Every bottle of perfume and cologne is marketed with its own story or intention as a way to connect its scent and associate it with a feeling before smelling it. Creed’s Aventis is famously inspired by Napoleon. Gabrielle Chanel sought out “a woman’s perfume, with a woman’s scent,” and found this in her own N ॰ 5. Koroma’s Aromas takes a more personal approach to perfuming. Every scent is left open to be interpreted by the wearer. James Koroma is Harlem’s only auteur perfumer. I had the opportunity to discuss his coming to love the perfume business, his philosophy on scent, and to get his perspective on each of the five fragrances included in his collection. James’ grandfather Aloysius Koroma would make perfume as a hobby while living in Liberia. When civil war broke out, he sent his family to safety in America. As he moved around the conflict, he exposed himself to a rich variety of fragrant raw materials all through Northwest Africa before reuniting with his family in the U.S...

An exciting partnership is about to make big news in the world of streetwear. A well-known sneaker influencer and an up-and-coming Queens, New York fashion house have joined forces to promote a shared vision of positivity and balance through their mutual love of inspired clothing. Anyone who follows sneakerhead culture on X (formerly Twitter) or other social media platforms has likely encountered the posts and presence of Kenneth Myers, Jr. , better known by his online moniker, Mr. Unloved 1s . A sneaker historian, Myers is a fan of all things footwear and is considered by some to be the world’s biggest Air Jordan 1 superfan. Following Myers’ social media accounts is a surefire way to gain sneaker knowledge and informed perspective that is presented with calm, thoughtful honesty rather than emotion-driven harsh opinion commonly found in conversations within the sneaker and streetwear community, both inside and outside the virtual space. Myers reminds his followers, always, that “the ...