Refresh Your Spring Wardrobe with These 17 Emerging Fashion Brands

Years ago, the best way to find a new or emerging brand would be to check out Totokaelo, Barneys New York, Need Supply, or any of the other curated concept shops that made a name for themselves by propping up new and original talent. While there are still a handful of stores that haven’t shuttered in the recent past—think H. Lorenzo, Printemps, and Dover Street Market—social media has replaced the brick-and-mortar as the go-to destination to discover new labels. Now, the best emerging brands for spring 2024 aren’t any further than a follow away.

Take Rue Sophie, for example—the brand’s inaugural spring collection under its new name (formerly Sophie Rue) makes for the perfect transitional winter-to-spring wardrobe. Meanwhile, the likes of Diotima, Belle, Fonseca, and Ella Mae design sustainably for warmer weather well-spent. Ahead, see 17 new brands to discover just in time for spring.

Fonseca

Based in New York by way of Los Angeles, Fonseca is the eponymous brainchild of Mexican-American designer Adriana Fonseca. With fans including models Kendra Austin, Bijan Ross, and Gilly Chan, the sustainable, made-to-order brand boasts a singularly romantic, ultra-feminine ethos. Fonseca often layers deadstock fabrics by hand to give each piece a textured finish.

Costaiia

Founded in 2020 by Patricia Maria Pietri "with the intention of creating a landscape that would interlace contemporary and traditional worlds through craft and design," Mexico City-based brand Costaiia honors local textile artisans. The brand fuses singularly feminine ease with traditional Mexican sensibilities through pieces including billowing linen maxi dresses, cascading embroidered skirts, and open-weave ponchos that are as effortless as they are beautiful.

Diotima

Get ready to see Diotima everywhere: Not only did founder Rachel Scott win the 2023 CFDA award for Emerging Designer of the Year, but she was a semi-finalist for the 2023 LVMH Prize and runner-up for the 2023 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund for her work on the label. Founded in 2021 as a love letter to her Jamaican roots, the brand leads with its mission to amplify the land’s native artisanal craft: hand crochet. Scott calls the brand—renowned for its luxe crochet knitwear, refined tailoring, and elevated sustainable materials—"a seductive and nuanced vision of Caribbean style."

Ella Mae

Designer Ella Mae’s eponymous LA-based brand centers sustainability: All of her deadstock fabrics are ethically sourced, and each piece is hand-dyed using only natural plant-based inks. Though her dual-drawstring babydoll tops and matching gathered skirts put her on the map, Mae has also experimented with more everyday pieces, both on her own and through collaborations with brands like The Social Club.

Rue Sophie

If Rue Sophie sounds vaguely familiar, it might because it is: The elevated essentials brand debuted under its new identity—previously Sophie Rue—at the start of the year. This revamped line features a range of refined separates, dresses, and outerwear designed for the sensible woman. Maybe she commutes, or maybe she takes meetings at a Brooklyn coffee shop—but either way, the brand’s new emphasis on utility and wearability make it a must-follow for fans of designers like The Row, Phoebe Philo, and Jil Sander.

Musier Paris

Founded in 2018 by Anne-Laure Mais at the height of influencer brands, Musier Paris manages to fill the gaps in any timeless, French-girl wardrobe. Though the brand earned a cult-like following thanks to its refined designs—often made from natural fibers from European mills—Musier’s inflection point is still yet to come.

Siedrés

Siedrés' signature pieces are its kaleidoscopic prints produced in matching sets—and it’s no wonder: The Turkish label brands itself as curiously playful, a notion that comes across with just a single look at its offering. Maximalists will love the bold designs, while minimalists might opt for a knit set in a more subdued palette.

Nia Thomas

A born and bred New Yorker, Nia Thomas’s designs are surprisingly mellow. The knitwear designer interned at both Rodarte and Kith before founding her self-funded label in 2018, and each handmade piece "calls on women to own their sensuality, power, and capacity for love." While Thomas's signatures are her timeless open-knit dresses and separates—all sustainably produced in New York City, Mexico, and Peru using cellulose-based fibers and plant-based dyes—she recently expanded into a new knit format, often finished with embellishments like wooden beads or reflective paillettes.

Asta Resort

While Helena Ammitzboell originally founded Asta Resort as a proper resort brand, it now debuts collections that range beyond its initial offering. The three-year-old label made a name for itself with its viscose and lycra-blend swimwear, often crafted in bright hues made for far-flung destinations. Now, Asta is joining forces with designer and CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Conley Averett to expand the next collection with knitwear crafted in Portugal from Italian yarn.

Cordera

Sisters Mónica and María founded their brand Cordera more than 15 years ago, and though the brand has earned itself some local press, it’s decidedly still under wraps as far as household names go. The designs are deceptively simple, and the brand's mix of colorful knitwear and straightforward separates are as easy to wear as it gets. Both sisters still call northern Spain home, continuing to design and produce the line there.

OpéraSport

Stylist-designer duo Stephanie Gundelach and Awa Malina Stelter founded OpéraSport in 2019, and it's become one of Copenhagen’s most venerable fashion darlings. While each piece merges the ultra-feminine (tops secured with bows) with a sporty edge (utility vests, oversized shirts), the brand styles each look to combine both pillars seamlessly. As with most Danish brands, sustainability is at the center of OpéraSport: The elegant, luxe-leaning brand uses recycled organic fabrics in each of its collections.

Belle

Founded by Annabelle Noelle in 2016, Belle was once a small swimwear brand with a focus on sustainability. In the years since, the Indonesia-based, vintage-inspired label has grown to include loungewear and contemporary offerings alongside its resort-ready designs. The responsible brand sources low-impact textiles locally in Indonesia, and is committed to romantic, feminine silhouettes that feel like ‘90s-era gems.

Corali

Hand-wrought in Copenhagen, the jewelry from Corali feels otherworldly—perhaps because designer Caroline Sillese is actually an architect by trade. She launched the brand in 2017 to "experiment with tiny sculptures" and has successfully created a distinctive line of made-to-order pieces that feel nearly unfinished in the best way.

Chora

Helsinki-based leather handbag label Chora is less of a brand and more of a design collective, though each designer remains anonymous. While the trend-forward bags are sleek and refined, they’re also deceivingly complex. You may have seen the brand's handcrafted metal chain bag on the ‘gram–and the new lace-up Silva bag will make it into many a saved folder, too.

Sam Finger

You may have seen Winnie Harlow on NYC-based designer Sam Finger’s most recent runway. The brand’s upcycled, one-of-a-kind pieces epitomize the kind of sleek deconstruction that so many brands attempt to master—but few do it as well as Finger. The inclusive label, which operates on a sustainable made-to-order or preorder business model, beautifully highlights the confident power of utilitarian experimentation.

Ester Manas

Founded in 2019 by Belgian designer duo Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre, this romantic, lace-heavy brand aims to celebrate womanhood in all its forms. The brand’s pieces—which are both coquettish and stretchy enough to fit sizes XS-3XL—earned the pair a Galeries Lafayette prize at the Hyères festival in 2018 and a place on the LVMH Prize shortlist in 2020. In 2023, Manas and Delepierre tied the knot—but not before receiving the ANDAM special prize and collaborating with Danish darling Ganni, earning them a spot in many an it-girl’s saved folders.

Lamara London

Fans of the resurgence of Y2K trends will be pleased to hear the aesthetic lives on in London-based, Brazil-made footwear and ready-to-wear brand Lamara London. The brand, which counts Emily Ratajkowski and Becky Hearn among its fans, infuses a nostalgic sensibility into each of its designs.