This Vegan, 'Ethically Handsome' Brand Is Coming to Williamsburg

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

If there were a recipe to concoct the most Williamsburg store ever, Brave GentleMan would look a lot like the end result. There's its name, most obviously, and of course its merchandise and branding, made of ethically sourced merchandise. There's also plenty of beards, shoes without socks, and other signifiers of that "dapper hipster" lifestyle.

Not that that's a bad thing, of course! Joshua Katcher — an instructor at Parsons, lecturer on ethical fashion, and editor of his lifestyle blog, The Discerning Brute — has helmed the brand since 2010, and says his first brick-and-mortar store is "the world's first ethically handsome boutique," specializing in organic, recycled, and 100% vegan materials from fair-trade sources.

When it opens September 26th, Brave GentleMan will be attached, fittingly, to the vegan corner store Haymaker's that's owned by the folks behind neighborhood favorite Champ's Diner. Along with suits, shoes, trousers, and outerwear made of vegan fabrics that Katcher calls "future-suede, future-wool, and future-silk," the store will also carry a selection of hats, candles, soaps, and fragrances. "You'll find yourself wanting to touch and wear everything in the collection," Katcher promised.