ESSENTIALS

The Jerry Lorenzo-helmed Essentials label centres on delivering optimally-constructed wardrobe staples in a wide range of subtly-tweaked variations. Since its 2018 conception, the label’s output has taken the form of concise capsules focused on delivering immediate aesthetic impact, with its unpretentious bold-font logo mirroring the minimalist implications of its name. A dimension of clean-cut sophistication is imbued in the label’s streamlined assortment of unisex sweatshirts, hoodies, sweatpants, and crewneck t-shirts, inviting alternately mixed-and-matched or unicolor styling approaches. Merging streetwear-adjacent women’s outfitting with a uniform-like sensibility, the label’s no-frills aestheticism subtly gestures towards the unpretentious affectations of skate culture and off-duty sportswear. A lesson in reductionism through and through, stylistic features are pared back to an absolute minimum, revealing the baseline functionality of all-purpose apparel. With Lorenzo’s savvy coming to bear through subtly tapered leg shapes and an affinity for heavyweight jerseys, Essentials’ admirably straightforward approach is bare-bones streetwear perfected.