I’ve been writing about A Kind of Guise for years now. Mostly it’s been recommendations here and there, but I figured we were long overdue for a little bit of a deep dive around the brand and what they’re all about.
What special about this Munich-based menswear label is their commitment to creating high-quality clothing while keep production local by utilizing small family-run ateliers in both Germany and Italy to bring their clothes to life.
The fabrics, stories, and the overall design comes together to create a truly unique experience in menswear. In such a fast-paced industry, many brands have no choice but to outsource the making of their garments to make the financial side of the business make sense. In the case of AKOG, they’ve continued staying true to their word by keeping their production in Europe while maintaining high quality output, and that’s what has me coming back as a customer.
In today’s letter we’re going to check out A Kind of Guise’s AW26 collection that’s already live on their site, as well as a deeper look at some of my favorite pieces from the latest Chapter 2 drop.
What’s cool about AKOG is the range of clothes they make. This is a brand where you can get practically anything: casual outfits, footwear, unique knitwear, staple basics, and even tailoring. Their accessories lineup runs from bags, belts, scarves, and everything in between that’s made out of good materials that you’ll actually enjoy using.
While most of their garments are available across various retailers around the world, they have items that are exclusive to their online website that you can’t get anywhere else.
Pretty much everything is handmade using fine wools like merino and alpaca, cottons, silks, and calf leathers. So, you can expect a high-level of quality from AKOG in each garment.
While there are a lot of great garments to pick from, I always start with their knits. Chapter 2 just dropped a Valur Vest made out of 100% lambskin wool, or the Yebra Jacket which is made out of a combination of Alpaca, Virgin and Merino wools — you’ll see a touch of polyamide in the construction but I wouldn’t be concerned about that as it was used for the binding to finish off the edges. The rest of the jacket is all-natural fibers, baby.
WHAT I COPPED
Since we’re talking about knits, I have to highlight what might be my favorite item from this drop: The Lurin Longsleeve. Finished in a fine wool cashmere blend, this is probably one of softest feeling tops I have in my closet right now. Pictures will only tell half the story, but you know me, I wouldn’t put you on anything unless I truly believed in it.
Absolutely beautiful item. It’s extremely lightweight and will serve as a perfect light layer this fall.
I went true to size, in this case a size L for my 6’3 height, and it fit me like a glove. Comes in additional colors, but the mahogany was calling my name.
I also grabbed the Ainsa T-shirt in the Mudstone color. Love the garment dyed finish, which gives it a vintage worn-in feel right out of the bag. I was really into the pique ribbed collar detailing, which was originally why I gravitated towards it. If I’m going to pick up a t-shirt it should be slightly different in comparison to what I already have and the Ainsa checked off those boxes.
Went with a Size L and ended up with the perfect fit.
I also picked up the Fulvio Shirt in Washed Graphite. What a shirt! It is made out of an Italian viscose and lyocell blend — a semi-synthetic fabric made out of wood pulp and cellulose. The construction gives this fabric an extremely soft finish that almost feels and looks like silk.
Sharp smaller collar, fits perfectly in a size L, and just pairs really well with the rest of the stuff I picked up from the drop.
The thing that always sticks out to me with AKOG is how these garments make me feel when I wear them. You should be buying clothes that make you feel good, and that’s exactly what I feel when I put something on from AKOG.
“Wow this is so nice” went through my mind several times during the fitting for this letter.
The fabrics stand out in a way that takes a regular black button-up to a new level I didn’t realize that was missing from my wardrobe. The details throughout, whether that’s the buttons, or the drawstrings on the pants, are all details that AKOG thinks about, which makes the clothes that much better.
While most of the tops fit true to size in my experience, I will recommend double checking sizing on the pants. It seems as though a size 52 could mean something different across styles. Everything is measured in CMs, but definitely double check the sizes before pulling the trigger.
I got 52 in both pants, and can easily say I could have sized down to 50 and even 48 in some cases. Samurai trousers are on an elastic band that stretches out, so don’t worry about going with the bigger size.
Other than that, these are both really great quality and are made out of special Italian sourced cottons that do have a noticable difference when they are on your body. I’m not just saying that for the sake of trying to sell you on this, but I really don’t have anything like this in my wardrobe in terms of quality and that’s why I’m really happy with this collection.
Discover the full AW26 directly on the A Kind of Guise website here. — use code SNLFREESHIP at checkout for free shipping on any order!
Follow AKOG on Instagram here.
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This is a really great write-up and I'm really loving the direction AKOG is going at the moment. The main thing for me though is how they visit different countries to find the fabrics, patterns, styles etc, and use the local people as the models for their shoots each season. And I think that's something that makes them really unique as a brand in Europe.
code doesn't work for UK :(