Gardening hasn’t always been this fashionable. Once relegated to hardware stores and overlooked corners of workwear catalogs, it’s now found a foothold in the wardrobes of designers, stylists and menswear obsessives. Brands like Gardenheir, ROVI Lucca and Bram’s Fruit are leading the charge, proving that clothing made for digging in the dirt can still be beautifully made and worth paying attention to.
A Post-Pandemic Response
Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns changed the way people interact with their homes. In fact, one study showed that as many as one in every three people began gardening during 2020 and into 2021. With limited access to the outside world and a general feeling of food insecurity as global markets destabilize, many turned to alternative forms of food sources both for a means to eat and a form of therapy.
Couple this new interest with gardening with an increase in e-commerce spending during the same time period, and it’s no coincidence that gardenwear, once at the outliers of fashion, began to take root within the mainstream. While brands like Niwaki and Le Laboureur preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, they began to hit a wider audience, especially among fashion enthusiasts looking to elevate their clothing to something more akin to designer-quality pieces.
Since then, a steady rise in this cottage industry has gained traction among menswear enthusiasts with brands like ROVI Lucca, Gardenheir and Olderbrother blurring the lines between workwear and fashion into pieces that combine form and function seamlessly.
Tailored For The Task
The hallmark of elevated gardenwear lies in the ability to create wearable garments that can stand up to the elements. “Gardening asks a lot of your body, so we focus on fits and construction that give you a full range of motion through all kinds of activities, from digging to pruning to hauling things around. And it certainly helps if you feel and look good in the process,” says Alan Calpe of Gardenheir, a New York-based brand that has become a leader in this space, often utilizing luxury fabrics to elevate basics.
For instance, their Japanese Typewriter Gardening Chemise remains a top-seller for the brand. While based off a traditional oxford shirt, the use of Japanese typewriter cotton (a naturally water-repellent fabric) adds a dimension of luxury to what could have been an otherwise standard design. Another popular item are their gardening clogs, which are loved by designers like Philip Lim. Coming in nealry a dozen colorways, these clogs may seem like any old pair one would find at the local garden center; but with updates like a cork footbed and a suede lining, it’s no wonder they’ve become Gardenheir’s most popular item. It’s no wonder, then, that designer Todd Snyder partnered with the brand in 2024, bringing a new audience to the “Gardencore” phenomenon.
Other brands are using similar methods to build brands that mix utility and style together. ROVI Lucca, for example, takes the fashion background of its founders, Fabrizio Taliani and Bradley Seymour, to create runway-ready garments. Taliani, who previously worked at Hugo Boss and Zegna, uses his knowledge of garments to create collections inspired by Tuscan landscapes and its rich horticultural history. Co-founder Bradley Seymour sums it up; “We select fabrics such as our favorite British cotton twill and Shetland wool from our upcoming Autumn/Winter 25-26 season for their ability to age gracefully and reveal their character. Our chore jackets, trousers, shirts and anoraks combine traditional workwear structure with refined tailoring in earthy tones.”
And in doing so, these workwear pieces blur the lines between fashion and function with tailored work jackets, Irish linen garden shirts and bucket hats being only a small sampling of the seasonal collections produced by the Italian brand.
Old Favorites Getting A New Audience
Of course, not every gardenwear brand only popped up within the last five years. In fact, some brands deeply rooted in gardening have been around for more than half a century. Take, for example, Le Laboureur, a French brand that was founded in 1956. First designed to clothe the agricultural workers of Burgundy, the brand has since grown steadily over the years as a brand celebrated for its devotion to heritage and its steadfast designs which value ease of movement and sturdy construction above trendy, one-season products.
Niwaki, too, has become something of a heritage brand over the years in the gardening space. While ostensibly a tools-first brand, Niwaki’s ancillary products in the clothing space show that good design principles are easily transferable between product offerings. Inspired by the founder’s love of Japan, the English brand stocks kimono-inspired denim work jackets handmade in Japan, canvas work caps, and gardening waistcoats. Combine this with thoughtful collaborations like Britain’s The Newt and Paul Smith and it’s easy to see why Niwaki remains a major player in the garden space.
Gardenwear With Character
One preconception of gardening is that it might be a bit stuffy, but brands like Le Prince Jardinier, Bram’s Fruit, and Olderbrother are proving otherwise, each showcasing in their own way that the beauty of gardening is in the various personalities who find solace in its connection to nature.
The French brand, Le Prince Jardinier, began as a passion project for Louis Albert de Broglie after the prince started the National Tomato Conservatory at the de Broglie family seat of Château de La Bourdaisière. By 1995, the brand Le Prince Jardinier was born, combining what has been described as “a real hedonism close to the earth and a real taste for nature, beautiful materials objects and clothes.” Now in its thirtieth year, the brand has kept its collection of clothing to a few pieces, including vests, aprons and jackets with a focus on clean tailoring and vibrant colors, like mauve and sky blue.
Olderbrother, too, has found a way to balance personality with traditional workwear. This gender-neutral clothing brand out of Oregon has slowly but surely made its way into the menswear scene by consistently producing well-made pieces like their Big Pleats pants and upcycled shirts. But what really makes Olderbrother stand out is their use of playful shapes within their collection, often adding contrasting denim circles to jackets, or colorblocking sleeves in multiple fabrics. Couple this with their Splatter Pants and one can easily see how Olderbrother has been able to inject their own brand identity into even the most innocuous of products.
Finally, Bram’s Fruit’s “F*ck Off I’m Gardening” best defines the ways in which brands can be a marriage of personality and principles. Screen-printed onto t-shirts and embroidered onto caps, this slogan sums up the philosophy of gardening for founder Bram Korsten, who established the brand in 2021 in The Netherlands. “Gardening is a philosophy for us, a way we’re living our lives and how we run Bram’s Fruit. In a way, it’s a metaphor for ambition and an inspiration for us: we’re planting ideas, nurturing them, knowing when to step back and creating the right conditions for growth,” says Korsten.
And it’s this ambition which has brought a steady following to the brand. Now in its fourth year, the brand has diversified its offerings with seasonal collections, including resortwear, a ready-to-wear collection and a brick-and-mortar store in Amsterdam. For Korsten, “F*ck Off I’m Gardening” isn’t just a silly motto to sell shirts, but a mantra for life. “We want to ‘grow’ a different kind of luxury, one rooted in patience, purpose and through the quiet art of making something meaningful.”