Labels to Watch: 3 Preppy emerging streetwear brands from Madrid

Madrid is considered a Spanish commercial and financial centre, which from an international perspective is often overshadowed by the quirky port city of Barcelona with its mix of Gaudí buildings, beaches and an alternative lifestyle. The Spanish capital, however, also has a lot to offer with its art and cultural institutions - including its own fashion week. While Barcelona has a more relaxed and casual feel, the style in Madrid is a little more preppy and chic.

But how does this translate to a younger generation that has also grown up with urban streetwear? In Madrid, this youth style mixes with a more classic wardrobe, with skaters and young businessmen shopping for their leisurewear at the same brands. FashionUnited explores three brands from the city providing just that.

Dito Collective

Ditto Collective’s founder Eduardo García launched in November 2021 with a range of T-shirts. He quickly expanded the product selection to include items such as jumpers, jogging bottoms and accessories. The focus is particularly on rugby shirts and half-zip jumpers, which are intended to appeal to a more preppy and dressed-up streetwear community. It's about standing out from the crowd, but not standing out too much, García told FashionUnited, whose nickname 'Ditto' lent the brand its name.

Pieces from the collection, which comprises around 15 items per season, are currently only available in bricks-and-mortar stores in Spain and worldwide via the company's own online shop. Following an initial pop-up trial in the north of Spain, Ditto also wants to get started in physical retail in the direct-to-consumer sector soon. The first store is due to open in Madrid in September.

The company's own sales area should then also lead to an expansion of the product portfolio. The brand is currently still reliant on its wholesale partners to achieve the quantities of products that are produced in Portugal and China in particular - shirts are currently produced in Spain and can also be manufactured in smaller quantities. After the domestic market, Dito is targeting the neighbouring markets of Portugal and France.

The Nude Project

One step further in the market is the Nude Project brand, which was founded by Bruno Casanovas and Alex Benlloch in 2018 - at that time still under the name ‘New Polynesia’ - and is already active in markets such as Portugal, Germany, Italy and the US in addition to Spain.

The founders of the Madrid-based brand didn't even live in the same city before launching and got to know each other through social media, Benlloch said. They realised that they were driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit and that they both lacked a brand in Spain that embodied their style. As a result, they invested 600 euros and worked on T-shirts and jumpers in their respective university halls of residence, which they printed themselves. "It was clear to us that we would stand out from the crowd through the inspiring content we uploaded to our networks, and that's how we gradually became known," explained Benlloch.

In terms of fashion, Nude Project goes in the direction of classic streetwear with hoodies, puffer jackets and workwear pieces such as denim and cargo trousers, but also offers a preppy style with knitwear, rugby shirts and cardigans.

After the first six months and thousands of garments labelled with the acronym "NP", the unregistered brand ‘New Polynesia’ became the brand it is today, which describes itself as "authentic, organic and passionate" and sees artists and Generation Z as its greatest source of inspiration.

Nude Project achieved a turnover of 26 million euros in 2023, which is to now be driven forward through expansion within its own stores in markets in which the brand is already active and an expansion of the product range. In addition to seven own shops - including in Madrid, Milan and Lisbon - the brand has also been active with international pop-ups in Berlin and Paris.

Pompeii

The story of the Pompeii shoe brand also began when founder Jaime Garrastazu Enrique was a student. While studying finance around ten years ago, the 'sneaker lover' came up with the idea of creating a shoe that would meet the formal requirements of presentations in the lecture theatre, but would also be a casual shoe.

He then had 350 pairs produced near Valencia and started advertising for a pop-up launch. Even before the opening, the brand already had 4,000 followers on social media, according to the founder. It was therefore not surprising that the shoes were sold out in no time at all. Based on this success, Garrastazu developed the event into a pop-up tour, which was later followed by the brand's own online shop. In e-commerce, the brand initially focused on limited editions and organised three-day drop events - the only time the online shop was open.

With the help of three Asian investors, the first physical store was launched in 2019. This was quickly followed by up to five more locations, although these were paused due to the pandemic and the focus was placed more on the wholesale launch. This also drove internationalisation, as 50 percent of the wholesale customers now come from abroad, including Portugal, the UK and France via the Parisian department stores Le Bon Marché. Germany, Sweden and Denmark are also set to be added this season. In the domestic market, Pompeii is also represented by four shop-in-shops at the retailer El Corte Inglés.

In addition to shoes, Pompeii has been offering clothing collections for around two and a half years, which are a "mixture of streetwear and more traditional menswear in Spain". The brand sticks to basics such as jumpers and shirts, as well as football shirts, swimming trunks and T-shirts with large prints that coordinate with the sporty, elegant style of the shoe models. Collaborations such as with the sportswear brand Kappa and the drinks supplier Pepsi are also part of the brand's range.

FashionUnited was invited to Madrid by the Spanish economic and trade department in Düsseldorf.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. Translation and edit by: Rachel Douglass.