Brand Spotlight: Adsum
It’s no secret that utilitarianism and wearability have permeated the male fashion zeitgeist, owing in no small part to the tsunami-like resurgence of designer sportswear and its natural, trickle-down diffusion into urbanite closets across the world. Function no longer stands at odds with form - the two have found, once again, a symbiotic coexistence. Brooklyn-based brand, AdSum, exists on an even keel across both, though “sportswear” might just be the wrong term.
“I think it’s more outdoor wear than sportswear. Sportswear gives me the heebie jeebies because we’re not trying to be the next Nike or Adidas. We like making quality clothes that you can wear anywhere.”
Pete Macnee, Adsum founder
Pete Macnee, sitting in Adsum’s Brooklyn flagship store.
Chair: Takeshi Nii NychairX Rocking Model - aesthetes, indeed.
I find myself now persistently yearning to be comfortable in both dressing myself for the day and in my decisions leading up to it. I have less of a fixation on clothing that lends itself to a second thought.
“Is this what I’d actually want to wear all day?”
“Is this jacket too loud for where I’m headed?”
You’ll find none of that in Adsum’s catalog, a considered menu of accessibility and utility. In fact, I often find myself pulling on my Adsum corduroys for what would be their third day of wear in a row - and feeling great about it.
Adsum is an American clothing company focused on high quality manufacturing and design. We make products inspired by the cities and countryside of the American Northeast. The result is a unique interpretation of traditional men’s staples with a mix of technical outerwear and sportswear.
For athletes and aesthetes.
Adsum x Reebok Pyro, a collaborative tribute to 90’s running footwear.
These are clothes for urbanites, for outdoorsmen, for runners, for skaters, for workers, for loungers, and everyone in between. Unobtrusive in design, yet apparent in quality and construction. Their pieces leave little room for indecision, each fitting snugly into wardrobes widespread.
Much like their peers Noah, Aime Leon Dore, and 18 East (to namedrop a few), Adsum inserts themselves into facets of culture outside of clothing. This ranges from playlist curation, highlighting graphic designers and the natural wines they’re rocking with, to showcasing their home neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn via virtual tour.
They recently curated a quarantine playlist and even waxed poetic on the merits of Caddyshack, a timeless film that coincides thematically with their SS20 collection.
Transcendent of their first impression as just another Brooklyn clothing company, Adsum has shown that, in the flailing, gargantuan, and off-putting shadow of The Shops at Hudson Yards, an independent brand in New York City can maintain both a curated storefront/showroom and successful retail operation.
It’s all very copacetic - from the moment you descend the sunken steps down into their Williamsburg retail space, the store associate Sam’s cheeky smirk, to the clothing design itself, nothing about this operation feels forced.
Adsum’s flagship store opened in November 2019, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Adsum’s “brand” is making you feel as comfortable as their clothes do, with quality translated at every step of the chain. They walk you through the materials they use, from production to sourcing, giving customers an end-to-end view of their creative process and decidedly sustainable mindset.
Adsum is worth following even if just for the brand’s collective eye for inspiration. They’ll often share sources of inspiration while providing an in-depth back story of each. Some brands/social media personalities/publications/etc. may share images and stories that they find “inspirational” without providing insight into why it inspires. Adsum digs deep, answering the question: “Why did we post about this? Let us give you some backstory, the elements we appreciate about it, and hey, you might find that it augments you too.” An exemplification of this is Adsum’s profile on prolific German photographer Thomas Hoepker, and his ability to capture life in New York City.
Their newly-released SS20 collection is an introspective deep dive into the background characters who live on the fields of American sports. From groundskeepers to caddies, to ball boys, Adsum has turned the spotlight on the oft-forgotten, but all-important, cogs in the sports machine.
“Our SS20 collection looks beyond players on the field and delves into the style of people taking care of backshops and field-houses of some of our beloved sports. Commercial interests focus on the star athlete in the center field but we find there is deep soul in the way caddies, field technicians and groundskeepers dress.”
To be at odds with two polarities is to be unsure of one’s reason for being. You get the sense that Adsum is steadfast in its image, one cultivated organically and originally. As a brand, its sure of itself. It’d have to be to build a bridge across two parties, extending an invitation from one group to another, showing us that durability, accessibility, and comfort can all coalesce.
“For athletes and aesthetes.”