Literally Local: How Only NY Became the Official Outfitter of New York City

“Please Don’t Litter” signs, the NYC Parks Department insignia, metal green mesh trash cans and the 1 train – these are all vastly different things, but ones you’re bound to encounter as you traverse New York City. Therefore, these are all things you can find in Only NY’s Bronx warehouse (the 1 train is desk-sized.)

Micah Belamarich and Julian Goldstein, co-founders of the illustrative streetwear imprint, are born-and-raised New Yorkers hailing from the Upper West Side, who grew up frequenting spots like the Columbia University campus grounds, Riverside Park and the Andy Kessler skate park. Friends since freshman year of high school, the pair founded Only NY at the close of 2006 when Belamarich, who comes from an artistic family – his mother a children’s book illustrator – was a graphic design student at FIT. The first Only NY drop was released in 2007 and spanned five minimal, tongue-in-cheek graphic tees inspired by New York City at a time when most streetwear brands were leaning heavily into loud, large graphics.

“We wanted people to recognize what we were tapping into and resonate with it,” says Goldstein, who comes from a more retail-focused background (his father owned a hotel gift shop that he grew up working in, pushing loads of “I love New York” merch). While cementing Only NY as a relevant and reliable graphic provider – it was one of the first brands to flip the New Yorker’s font – Belamarich and Goldstein slowly began to apply their New York City-centric eye for authenticity to the design space, creating skate decks, bags and home goods. “We think about what we’d want to have on our mantle or desk, how we can bring that New York energy to any space” Goldstein explains.

Be it old magazines, postcards, or major historical moments – a recent one of inspiration being the Northeast Blackout of 2003 – Only NY looks through the city’s archival material to inspire its original graphic angle. Belamarich, deeply inspired by American graphic designer Milton Glaser, is the man behind most of the graphics, using Only NY’s very own line of Paint Markers to sketch concepts. The label also features an “Artist Series,” in which it taps New York-based artists from all five boroughs to contribute.

In 2012, Only NY introduced its cut-and-sew sector, which has since evolved into a minimalist paradise – the completely unbranded “Premium Basics” line is Only NY’s top-selling collection. “I think [the collection’s success is] partly because we never really called Only NY a streetwear brand,” Goldstein tells Hypebeast. “In the beginning, we were looking to separate ourselves from that.” Through careful infusion of their own personal NYC lore and connections with the cultural zeitgeist of the city at large, Only NY has established itself as the official New York graphic atelier – literally, as the brand is entering its ninth year working in tandem with the City of New York.

Recently, Only NY put out a full-size green mesh trash can of its own as part of its recurring NYC Parks Collection, produced in unison with the city. Only NY first joined hands with New York City in an official capacity back in 2015, when the city reached out to the brand to propose a capsule of collaborative merch. Though Only NY had been in existence for seven years at that point, they’d never done a collaboration before — instead focusing on their in-line product — and the city that’s been at the very core of what they do was quite the place to start. “I don’t think [this kind of collaboration] was on anyone’s radar as something that a brand could do,” Belamarich explains. “All city [memorabilia] beforehand was mainly just souvenir-type stuff.”

 

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Collaborating with a city like New York isn’t too different from a brand-to-brand collaboration. Belamarich and Goldstein spearhead all graphics and send them over to the city for approval before printing apparel. While the city has a few outstanding requests – nothing too uniform and nothing with negative undertones – it’s all about meeting in the middle, developing a graphic that feels authentic to city and brand alike. Now, with nearly a decade of collaboration under their belts, Only NY and NYC know each other very well, making the graphic exchange process seamless.

When looking through NYC’s graphic archive, the Parks Department’s iconography resonated with Belamarich and Goldstein the most. Drawing from their outdoorsy adolescence spent galavanting around the monuments – both official and self-proclaimed – of the Upper West Side, the two found city parks to be deeply intentional to the brand, and have since delivered routine NYC Parks capsules seasonally; this past summer, Only NY even designed the official shirt for all New York Lifeguards.

Only NY is also entering its seventh year working with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, releasing recurring MTA capsules that pay homage to what they call the “backbone of the city.” Other frequent collaborators include the Department of Sanitation (since 2015) and the Deli and Grocery (since 2016). “We strive to create graphics that become collectible pieces and moments in history,” explains Belamarich.

Outside of the official city collaborations, Only NY has also crafted smart collaborations rooted in NYC culture – that still play a role in the larger cultural zeitgeist and that non-New Yorkers can relate to. The label has a long-running partnership with New York Magazine and has designed merchandise for major players in the NYC culture space like the Governor’s Ball, Bowery Football Club, the Brooklyn Museum and the New Museum. Only NY looks to capitalize on viral cultural moments as well: 2022’s “The rats don’t run this city, we do” clip from Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch catalyzed a full campaign led by a PSA graphic tee, with all proceeds going to the New York City Department of Sanitation.

Belamarich and Goldstein describe the NY-born-and-bred brand’s evolution as “slow and steady.” “We want to stay true to how we started and our graphic DNA as much as we can,” Goldstein says. “There’s always something happening in New York. There’s always something to pull inspiration from.”

“New York City is so visually diverse,” Belamarich explains. “Whether it’s something we’ve already established or something totally different, we just want to keep doing whatever feels right for us.”

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Shop Only NY’s latest Parks Collection now online and in stores at the below locations.

176 Stanton St
49 Franklin St