Worstok

Los Angeles-based brand Worstok was formed in 2018 as a creative outlet for partners David Friend and Rudy Grazziani to weave their disparate upbringings into a menswear line. Friend’s experience in the fashion industry—he started modelling at age 18—sparked an interest in the creative workings behind-the-scenes, leading to a styling assistant at Saint Laurent where he worked alongside renowned stylists and photographers. Raised in an Echo Park apartment above his seamstress grandmother’s studio, Grazziani’s early exposure to sewing drove him to pursue an education in design, pattern-making, and production. His artistic sensibilities harmonize seamlessly with Friend’s candid eye for grunge-meets-luxe aesthetics. At its core, Worstock is an organic integration of gritty LA subcultures and Friend’s rural childhood spent on an Arabian horse farm, evident in the label’s prominent use of horse hair, wool, and mohairs fibres in graphic appliqué and intricate detailing. Deconstructed cotton t-shirts and soft jersey hoodies served as untried canvas DIY-inflected expression. Raw, bucolic-inspired designs in rustic hues are balanced with refined tailored that emanates the brand’s enigmatic spirit.