teenage boy - whats the coolest label I can buy him?

[brandnewhelsy]

I know, probably showing my age by using the word cool.
My nephew is 17 next month. He has all the latest stuff be it technology, clothing, music. I want to get him a couple of tops but I don't know what he would cringe at. He lives in a big city and is very label conscious, and I'd love to get him something he likes for once without having to ask! I know what styles he likes, but what brands do teenagers like now? He's "grown out of" Burberry, apparently. Thank God. I spotted him wearing Duck and Cover - are there other ones like that? Help!

bump!

Sorry, cross posted. Thanks anniemac. Unfortunately, he only goes for "designer" labels - the only shop label I've ever seen him wear is Next. I don't normally humour him. This is the child who told me when he was 6 that he didn't wear Puma because "meffs" wear Puma.

What about Bench? Or McKenzie? Or for real international cool factor stylee, what about Abercrombie and Fitch?

Have a look on brandswear.com (sorry cant do links!) Good young labels and good prices too. They have abercrombi, timberland, hugo boss, armani and lots more.

Was going to say A&F, can't think of any others. Not labels but White Stuff do some nice stuff.

Here you go - Brandswear.

May want to get ds some stuff from there, thanks!

dd who is 15 says
top man (she kept repeating this one!)
ted baker
ben sherman
fred perry (if they're a chav apparently)

QUIKSILVER

Quiksilver, O'Neill or Billabong.

don't know what your price range is but here goes. this is what springs to mind atm.

all saints is very cool
diesel
b clothing
boxfresh
d & g
levi
boss
armani
dkny
duffer
pepe
evisu
full circle
kurt geiger
lee
marc jacobs
moschino
paul smith
reiss
replay
fcuk
true religion

what sort of music does he like helsy? I think that will dictate what he would like

Abercrombie is very popular, a lot of it is preppy but they also do hideous ripped jeans so suit several styles! DS1 went to the US in 2005 on a school trip, at 17, and I think all the lads shopped at Abercrombie, but I don't know where you get it here.

YSL do some nice things and/but there is lots of it at SportsWorld now so maybe it has become uncool? (Sensible prices though!)

Quiksilver, Billabong, animal, O'Neill etc are purely skatey.

Oh, ggirl, DS2 would be devastated at the idea that Fred Perry is chav! He alternates between total slobdom and looking surprisingly smart, and his Fred Perry sweater (ribbed dark grey V neck) is his completely favourite thing at the moment

Thanks for all the names - most of them I've never heard of . Will look them all up. I don't know what music he likes - he's not really spoken for 5 years. Still, he looks good and he grunts beautifully .

Oh, I think he doesn't like skatey stuff because his younger brother does (he still speaks, hasn't reached puberty yet).

carling black label

Paul Smith shirts are great if you're looking for something more formal and smart.

DN loves QUICKSILVER but not into skating iyswim but loves snorkelling etc

urban outfitters
fatface

Definately Fatface & Quicksilver - also Animal

i think there's too great a danger of you going wrong if he's very label conscious.

Get some inside info from his parents?

Also the brands he's into are very 'street' and expensive unfortunately.

Thanks for all this. I think I may be trying too hard! His parents say he "only wears" Henri Lloyd, Rockport, Teddy Smith, Paul Smith, DKNY and some others. You can see where he gets it from. I thought I could try to get him something new that is just starting to be cool, IYKWIM. Sod it, he can have vouchers. For Primark .