At times 2018 seemed to have a continuous dark cloud looming over the year in the form of countless mass shootings and political divides that have lead to an increase in racial tensions, and that’s just in the U.S. alone.  But that’s not to say there hasn’t been some sunshine after the rain. The Parkland survivors made noise to bring attention to taking action against gun violence. The #Metoo movement pressed on making great strides. Diversity in entertainment is being seen from the small screen to the big screen, moving more underrepresented people into the forefront.

You might be thinking how does the start of this article correlate to the “Best Streetwear of 2018?” In comes a brand that helps reflect the positive that the world needed at this time, marching into 2018 with a literal smile on their face. Chinatown Market, founded by Mike Cherman is this year’s pick for Best Streetwear of 2018.  In a recent entry on The Hundreds Blog Cherman mentions that the brand’s logo stands for positivity and he goes on to say “In such a dark time, I was able to make something super bright.” In the excerpt from his interview below, he talks about the views on streetwear and the diversity he hopes to foster.

“Streetwear culture [gets conflated] with the boys’ clubs of the world. There’s a confusing thing in streetwear where half is right and cool and half is a boys’ club. I have a female designer but would love to find a woman who’d want to work in the warehouse, too. I want to make this place as diverse as possible. Hopefully someone hits me up through this interview. I want to foster a good community.”

-Mike Cherman (The Hundreds Blog Interview)

Chinatown Market stands for positivity and inclusion in the world and it reflects in their choices of what seemed to be endless collaborations throughout the year. The brand’s list of collabs includes Lacoste, Puma, Timex, Chief Kief and most recently Original Penguin just to name a few. With their smiley face branding plastered all over streetwear blogs, conventions/festivals and your very own Instagram feed Chinatown Market have easily stamped their place as our number 1 pick this year.