Men’s Shirts For Fancy Fellows And Fun Lovers

In Part Two of our exploration of the latest and most inspired in men’s shirts, we highlight brands for those particularly unafraid to wear their passions on their sleeves (and sometimes their shorts): Kurt River, RSVLTS, Pyknic, and Duvin.

[Read about The Phoenix Brand, Descendant of Thieves, and Tombolo in Part One.]

Kurt River

For vibrant city dwellers

Cihan Bozkurt, Founder: “Kurt River is a clothing brand inspired by New York City — peerless designs for contemporary Misters. We are creating 100% cotton shirts — designed in New York and Made in Turkey — that are wrinkle free and easy care fabric at an affordable price.

Fashion is my biggest passion. Although I studied economics and finance, I always wanted to do something in the fashion industry, and I wanted to create my own designs. I wanted to work in the fashion industry and gain experience, but this was not easy for someone who studied economics, so I decided to launch my own brand, and I wanted to do this in the most beautiful city in the world.

New York is a vibrant city. What inspires me is the city life. You can wear Kurt River shirts in the office, at dinner, at a Broadway show, out there in the night life — and look sharp all day.

Our Bushwick shirt is inspired from spring which is for the gentlemen who like to get attention they deserve. Our Lenox shirt is inspired by the ocean.”

RSVLTS

For pop culture obsessives

Mike Shriner, Director of Communications and Brand Strategy: “From the very beginning, the vision has always been to bring to life our love for pop culture, nostalgia, sports and entertainment. Whether it’s through original content like we created back in 2012 for our Baseball Bucket List, or by way of the variety of apparel we drop today, RSVLTS is a lifestyle brand that wants to start a conversation wherever possible, and are dedicated to making everyday fashion bold and fun with refined designs and high-quality products.

RSVLTS is proudly headquartered in Hoboken and was co-founded by two friends and Seton Hall alumni, John Tramutolo and Stephen Gebhardt, just a little over 10 years ago. The name, RSVLTS (ROSE-UH-VELTS), is a nod to the former president, Teddy Roosevelt, and we do our best to infuse his zest for life into our brand and our products at every turn. Thus the company motto, ‘Dare Mighty Things,’ which tracks back to a well-known quote within one of Teddy’s famous speeches.

Many of our collections are officially-licensed with some of the biggest names in pop culture and entertainment, but we also offer a wide-range of RSVLTS originals branded gear as well — everything from shirts to shorts, hats to koozies to jackets, and more. We launched an incredible Marvel series of gear earlier this year, but we went really deep with our most recent Star Wars collection that we’re about to debut at San Diego Comic-Con, which should speak to a wide range of fandoms with the designs (includes some cult/fringe characters, and always an easter egg or two hidden throughout the patterns).

Additionally, some RSVLTS original items have really taken flight, in particular our various Little Things collections where the patterns are a bit more subtle and subdued. Looking a bit ahead, RSVLTS are also in the process of working with The Smithsonian to take its collaboration to the next level, almost as if bringing a textbook to life through an appealing design that can also double as a teaching aid. Imagine the shirt first sparks the imagination, but could also have a QR code(s) visually embedded in the garment so it can further enrich the educational journey of the subject.

Essentially, we’ve worked hard over the years to make sure RSVLTS has a bit of something for everyone, for any lifestyle or occasion.”

Pyknic

For foodies and wordplay aficionados

Stephen Thompson, Creative Director: “Pyknic is a snarky, nostalgic, and gritty brand that celebrates its love of food through creative design and is anchored by well made garments and goods. It started out of a college dorm room from an interest in food, art, music, and sub cultures at a time before taking photos of your food was a thing!

Some of our recent graphic tees like Hang in There, Burnt Out, and Having a Meltdown were just really honest pieces we had come up as humans and young parents living through the pandemic. I believe those feelings expressed on those t-shirts just really resonated with everyone.

Whilst we do like to have some fun, I think when someone hears ‘food clothing’ they are expecting ‘meme’ type of stuff and that is not what we have set out to do. Our popular cut-and-sew button-up tops give us a different canvas to explore creativity-wise while also showing how seriously we take the quality of our goods. The new Raise Hell Eat Tacos button-up really embodies this juxtaposition, taking a taco-centric tattoo ‘flash sheet” and a comfortable, high quality shirt with a vintage wash and pattern, which makes for a very interesting and unique top.”

Duvin

For surf rock connoisseurs

Clay Phillips, Director of Marketing: “Duvin is a Florida-based brand trying to create the most unique and quality leisure apparel on the market. We’re all about having fun and looking good doing it. Design inspiration is pulled from a mix of 80s surf culture, historic Floridian influences, and a little modern flair.

Someone once called us ‘The Internet’s Go-To Beach Brand’ and it seemed to stick.

We are three lifelong friends that started selling T-shirts out of our cars in college. We slowly built the business while working side jobs and not paying ourselves for the first handful of years. Each line really depended on selling out of previous styles. This slow process really allowed us to not only find our unique look but develop some of the most quality beach product out there.

What started as a humble project amongst friends almost a decade ago, has grown into 100s of retailers, collaborations with Puma & Orlando City Soccer Club, and worn by the likes of Kygo, Bad Bunny, Odell Beckham Jr., Chase Stokes, Rickie Fowler, Swae Lee, Dwyane Wade and many more.

Our Cheetah Disco Swim Shorts have been a crowd favorite. We try to take retro inspiration, like the rainbow stripes, and update them with a modern twist like the cheetah print.

We are probably most known for our “Cabana Sets”. The Tropical Orange set is a great tribute to our Floridian origins, but can still be worn no matter where your vacation takes you. The shirt is 100% Soft Breathable Rayon, with a custom hand-painted print. The shirt is paired with matching Quick-Dry 4 Way-Stretch Swim Shorts.