What Is Corteiz? A Guide to One of London's Most Prolific Upcoming Brands

If you’re a Londoner and a fan of social media, chances are, you might remember seeing swarms of young adults running amok through the streets of wormwood scrubs in January. While you might have mistaken this event for your average social gathering, what we witnessed was actually “Da Great Bolo Exchange”, an event in which attendees were instructed to bring along a puffer jacket from the likes of The North Face, Stussy, Moncler or Supreme to trade for an unreleased piece named the Bolo Jacket. Despite the insanity, this event was actually for a good cause, with £16,000s worth of coats being donated to homeless charities proceeding the event.

The culprit behind the madness was Corteiz, a West London born streetwear brand that has gained quite the following since its 2017 inception. Corteiz (sometimes also known as CRTZ), is run by somewhat of an unknown figure simply known as Clint. Previously, Clint was known for his other brand Cade On The Map, a streetwear label that managed to gain some traction within the London scene.

It’s fair to say given Corteiz’s approach to marketing, Clint doesn’t exactly play by the rules. The brand’s Instagram is private, its E-Commerce site is private and Clint doesn’t do press. To your average marketing expert, Corteiz’s approach to running a brand seems like somewhat of a foreign concept, but due to the tight-knit community it has created, it seems that people just can’t quite get enough. In the past year alone worldwide searches for the brand have skyrocketed by over 1000%, reaching totally unprecedented levels of hype! If you've ever wondered what Corteiz is, or where to buy a pair of the iconic Corteiz joggers, make sure you keep reading.

So what exactly makes the Corteiz business model work? Well, if brands such as Supreme have taught us anything in the past, it’s the fact that having limited product combined with a certain degree of unavailability will seemingly fuel the fire when it comes to hype. In many of us, there’s something oddly satisfying about trying to chase the somewhat unobtainable, and for many, Corteiz’s business model scratches that itch. You won't see any ads for Corteiz on social media either, the brand is built strictly by word of mouth, creating an "if you know you know" sense of exclusivity.

It’s also worth noting Corteiz’s values as a brand, with going against the norm and breaking conventions seeming to be part of the message. For instance, Corteiz’s logo sees an illustration of Alcatraz island, a symbol for many that bears rebellious connotations. In addition, the brand boasts a grassroots upbringing, one that for many is a far cry from multi-billion dollar sportswear giants such as Nike that we see dominating the fashion industry.

In its life, Corteiz has received a fair share of celebrity endorsement also. Before his untimely death at the end of 2021, Off-White founder and Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh was one of the bigger names in the industry to embrace the Corteiz vision, as he donned a full orange tracksuit along with a “Rules the World” logo T-Shirt in September of 2021. In addition, we’ve also seen singer-songwriter Jorja Smith sport a full brown tracksuit from the brand, making way for girls to embrace the clothing brand.

Included within the brand’s range, we see an extensive selection of classic street-style silhouettes. The most popular pieces seem to be their T-Shirts, hoodies, cargos, sweatshirts, joggers, tracksuits, but due to their limited nature, every drop seems to sell out. The brand has also previously produced balaclavas, a piece many users on the Corteiz subreddit are so adamant to obtain.

It’s not as simple as hopping onto the brand’s E-Commerce store to buy products. You can only purchase Corteiz clothing at a certain time on drop days. Drops will fall sporadically, and even when they do, the product will be stored behind a password-protected gateway to ensure only true members of the fanbase are able to purchase. On the plus side, if you are one of the chosen bunch to gain access, Corteiz drops are very fairly priced for the most part, with some T-Shirts retailing for as little as £20 in the past.

Given the brand’s sensational and meteoric rise, we can only imagine Corteiz will continue on this upwards trajectory until it becomes a household name for many. We’ve already seen the effect having a loyal community has on the brand, so with additional growth, Corteiz could quickly find itself as a force to be reckoned with within European and even global streetwear scenes.

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