How two friends are rewriting the menswear rules with a brand inspired by board culture
Words by ANDREW BARKER
Photography by BRAD TORCHIA
“We describe Rélyk as counterculture American luxury,” says Skylar Stone, co–creative director of the freshest luxury menswear brand on a California scene that, over the past decade, has birthed the cult names Amiri, Fear of God, and Gallery Dept. So what gives Rélyk its edge?
“It is really for someone who lives an active lifestyle and needs transitional pieces in their day-to-day life — timeless pieces that can live in your wardrobe for decades and only get better with wear and age,” adds Kristopher Brock, co–creative director and a former winner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (fellow laureates include L.A. brands Rodarte and The Elder Statesman).
They didn’t meet until 2023, when they were neighbors in Corona del Mar, but both Brock, 38, and Stone, 32, are lifelong surfers, skateboarders, and snowboarders, and they share a love of the rugged coastlines and soaring mountain ranges of the wild American West. Stone runs the Rélyk studio in Aspen, Colorado, where he now lives with his wife and children. Brock is based in Orange County with his girlfriend and children, close enough to the factories of South L.A. that assemble some of the Rélyk garments, the setting for today’s shoot.
Sourcing the finest cashmeres and cottons from Italy and Japan, the pair want to deliver contemporary cuts for family guys like themselves, with a taste for board sports and the great outdoors. “We both travel a lot, so everything needs to be wearable and easy but able to withstand the elements, whether that’s being with our kids, at the office, in meetings, or on the mountain, beach, or skate spots. Clothes that look put together but never too precious to be lived in,” says Brock. The name Rélyk comes from the intention to present pieces that feel lived-in, even before they are purchased.
Brock grew up in Texas and studied at Parsons School of Design in New York in the late aughts. After working as a tailor, in 2014 he launched Brock Collection with his then wife, Laura Vassar, whom he met at Parsons. Their dresses, blouses, denim, and bridalwear were stocked at well-regarded purveyors such as Net-a-Porter and Saks and worn on the red carpet by the likes of Emma Stone, Alicia Vikander, and Elizabeth Olsen. Highs included collaborations with H&M and Tecovas and nominations in the CFDA Awards’ Emerging Talent category in 2017 and 2018, but the pair parted ways professionally in 2021.
Everything needs to be easy but able to withstand the elements, whether that’s our kids, the mountains, the beach, or surf spots.
KRISTOPHER BROCK
“Kris is more classically trained in fashion and tailoring, and I am not, but it’s kind of a great marriage in that I gravitate toward less traditional, more streetwear silhouettes, and Kris brings this elevated tailoring element,” says Stone, who grew up in Florida and Orange County and worked as a cinematographer and director. Before his fashion pivot, Stone was on the road filming with the likes of Blink-182 and making videos of Red Bull’s adrenaline-junkie sportspeople before running his own media company.
“This brand came from that lifestyle change of me sitting in a room with only creatives to sitting in rooms with finance guys and not really feeling like I had the wardrobe to blend those two worlds together,” he says.
“It’s nice creating with someone who’s newer to the industry because I sometimes find myself following the more stereotypical path versus questioning it, as Sky does,” adds Brock.
Today we meet at the factory that produces the brand’s jeans. Low-slung and loose on the leg, they feature a drawstring belt that has become something of a signature to the Rélyk shorts and pants — a tribute to the shoestrings they tied around their waists as teenagers to keep their baggy pants from falling down.
Indeed, the prevailing culture of their formative years looms large in their designs. “On the mood board we have a lot of old punk shows, skate and surf images from back in the day. We’re figuring out how to bridge that gap of fine tailoring but making it feel authentic to what we grew up on,” Stone says.
A brick red jacket in weathered lambskin is a standout that makes you wonder whether it’s a one-of-a-kind vintage find. “It’s clearly a leather jacket,” Brock says, “but it’s constructed more like a tailored piece. You get this feeling when you put it on that it just works. You never feel restricted. It’s oversize but not sloppy, and you can still layer underneath it.”
In December, Rélyk’s debut collection for Spring 2025, seen throughout this shoot, launches exclusively at FRWD, online and at its store in Aspen. Featuring denim, tailoring, knitwear, and leather goods, the plan is to expand into new categories next year. (Brock will join Stone in the studio the week after we meet to begin designs for Fall 2025.)
“Working in fashion, it’s important not to take ourselves too seriously and to have fun along the way,” Brock says. Two friends working together, creating the clothes they’ve always wanted but could never find — what could be more fun than that?
Grooming by ANDRE GUNN at Honey Artists.
LUCAS BRAVO wears POLO RALPH LAUREN x NAIOMI GLASSES.
Feature image: Skylar Stone and Kristopher Brock at work.
This story originally appeared in the Fall Men’s Edition 2024 issue of C Magazine.
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