Robert Graham

If you love bold, conversation-starting patterns, a Robert Graham shirt earns its keep on construction alone. The brand designs all of its shirt fabrics in-house and layers in the kind of detail few labels bother with. The trade-off is that the wildest prints read as a fashion moment rather than a forever staple, so buy the one that genuinely makes you grin.

The price reflects fabrics designed in-house and finished with contrasting patterns and embroidery on surfaces nobody else sees, plus the brand's positioning as a New York luxury menswear label. Robert Graham even says the embroidery is done so that no two shirts come out identical. You are paying for the hidden craft as much as the loud exterior.

It is the contrasting patterns and embroidery tucked onto inward-facing surfaces like the inside of the cuffs, under the collar, and along the button line. Those flashes of a second print, revealed when you turn back a cuff, became as closely tied to the brand as the bold exterior. The shirts also carry the company motto, Knowledge Wisdom Truth, printed or embroidered on every garment.

Start with a classic men's button-down, since shirts, and men's shirts in particular, are what the brand was built on. From there the sub-labels let you tune the volume: the X Collection is more subtle and slim-cut, the RG line leans on more traditional patterns, while Limited Edition and Zen push the elaborate, higher-end end of things. Pick the line whose loudness matches your nerve.

American Eclectic is the term co-founder Robert Stock coined for the niche the brand set out to fill, for men who craved pops of color and interesting, conversation-provoking pieces. It captures the mix of bright shades, layered patterns and unexpected hidden details. The brand also offers sizes up to 4XL, extending that look to customers luxury labels often overlook.

The label launched in 2001 and takes its name from its two co-founders: fashion designer Robert Stock and French textile designer Graham Fowler. Fowler left the following year to pursue other projects, while Stock stayed on as co-chairman and Chief Creative Officer. Stock, a native of the Bronx, had already won a Coty Award and a Cutty Sark Award earlier in his career.

Robert Graham runs its own retail and outlet stores, including a flagship on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Los Angeles, and sells through independent boutiques. It is also carried by major department stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's. Buying through these channels is the surest way to know your shirt is the real thing.

Yes. Although the brand began with menswear and still centers on it, it added a womenswear line in 2005 using the same color, contrast and detail-heavy aesthetic. The company now produces several menswear collections plus a women's collection each year, and over time has branched into pants, sport coats, outerwear, accessories, hats, shoes and denim.

Both lean on patterned fabrics and contrast details inside cuffs and collars, but Robert Graham tends to dial everything up, stacking multiple contrasting patterns and embroidery across a single shirt. Ted Baker generally keeps a cleaner front with playful prints hidden inside. If you want maximalism with collector-level detailing, Robert Graham is the bolder choice.

After noticing genuine collectors among its customers, the brand launched a Collector's Club promotion that rewards owners of more than 100 shirts by naming a shirt after them. It is a nod to how devoted the fan base became, treating the shirts almost like a series to complete. That collectible spirit is part of why people own these in quantity rather than one at a time.

Robert Graham is a New York-based brand that has long been associated with domestic, made-in-America manufacturing, which is one of the reasons its pieces carry a premium. All of the shirt fabrics themselves are designed in-house before production. That combination of original prints and home-grown making is central to the brand's identity.