In fashion, every household name begins with a single product. One idea executed so precisely it becomes shorthand for the brand itself. A graphic tee. A tracksuit. A handbag. For NO/FAITH STUDIOS, that idea was denim — specifically a pair of flared jeans that carried the brand from screen-printing in Cologne, Germany to becoming one of the most referenced silhouettes across social media.

Founded in 2016 by Luis Dobbelgarten at just 16 alongside his brother Leon and creative partner Moritz Himmler, NO/FAITH did not take shape inside fashion schools or through industry apprenticeships. It began with skateboarding, a screen-printing machine, and printing tees for classmates. Denim arrived later, first as experimentation, then as opportunity. When rapper Lil Tecca began wearing their Flare Denim consistently in 2021, orders accelerated. What followed was not a perfectly choreographed rollout but momentum reinvested into stronger washes, sharper proportions, and eventually the Wave Denim that would define their next chapter.

From a distance, the rise reads like internet velocity. Up close, it feels more methodical. Luis and Moritz speak about proportions and fit the way musicians talk about finding the “pocket” — internalized rhythm discovered through repetition. Over time, the brand shifted from pocket-heavy experimentation into a more disciplined expression. Their garments feel aged without leaning on nostalgia, and refined without losing their edge.

Today, NO/FAITH’s product offering extends beyond signature flares. Raw and washed denim sits alongside structured leather jackets, roughed-up footwear, sunfaded tees, and sharply cut outerwear. The silhouettes are deliberate — slightly elongated, subtly cropped or flared, and engineered to stack, drape, and move with intention. Their treatments feel lived-in but controlled, as though the pieces have already seen years of wear. Even the more experimental designs carry a sense of weight and permanence.

NO/FAITH’s growth has not been without friction, though. After a brief stint working with a wholesale/showroom business model, the team stepped back to protect margins and maintain control, recognizing that direct-to-consumer sales better aligned with how they wanted to build.

Last year’s Black Friday drop, their largest to date, collided with their fulfillment center filing for bankruptcy, forcing them to pack thousands of orders themselves. Their 2025 collaboration with PUMA on the Talon introduced new scale and visibility. But the mission for the brand remains the same. For Luis, community matters more than expansion for its own sake.

The brand now operates primarily direct-to-consumer (DTC), cautiously exploring Japan and physical experiences that connect with their audience offline. With the arrival of a second PUMA collaboration—this time resurrecting the 2005 Beisser—the focus remains less on fitting within fashion’s rigid calendar or following traditional brand playbooks, and more on longevity. Building wardrobes that evolve over time while redefining what it means to grow independently for the modern consumer.

Before NO/FAITH was a brand, it was just you printing shirts. What did the earliest version of this look like? And how did each of you eventually step into it full time?

Luis Dobbelgarten: I think it all came from skateboarding. Back then, I went to a skate camp where I learned how to screen print when I was like 13. I came home and bought a screen printing machine. From that time, it all started — just printing shirts and selling them in school. It wasn’t serious. It wasn’t about starting a fashion brand. It was more just having fun printing.

Then at one point we made some money and produced our first denim in China. Those “Flare Denims” went super viral in 2021. Lil Tecca was wearing them every day and posting them everywhere. That was when we really saw something happening. Before that it was just one denim, having fun, trying to get stuff to the right people. I’d say about three years ago is when it became a real brand. Before that it was just vibing with the homies.

Moritz Himmler: I’ve been working with Luis for about four years. Around 2022, we started working on the first designs, then we started a collection, and from there we rebuilt everything step by step. In the beginning I did a lot of womenswear, but now we just do all the creative direction together.

Leon Dobbelgarten: I was around from the very beginning because Luis and I lived together at my parents’ house. I helped here and there with small stuff — customer support, shipping orders. Around three and a half years ago, Luis called me and said I should quit my job. I was working in the music industry. He said it was getting too big and they needed someone to handle communication and operations. So I quit my job and joined NO/FAITH full time.

What would you say was the first drop or item that put NO/FAITH on the map?

Luis: Early on, we had drops that were kind of fake sell-outs. I would make samples in China, drop them, and no one would buy them. So I just put “sold out” on the site because no one was buying the shit.

Then we had the Platinum drop. That time it was real — we had quantities, it wasn’t pre-order, and I had so much pressure trying to sell these denims. I gave them to all my friends in Germany who were cool back then, doing fit pics and stuff.

Then suddenly it sold out in like two minutes. I was like, what the fuck is going on? After that we had money to reinvest, and then we made the Wave Denim. That became probably our most famous denim. So many brands copied it — same structure, same details. Wave Denim was about six months after the Flare Denim and went even bigger.

At that stage, was it about riding the hype? Or were you already thinking about building something that felt bigger than a single product?

Luis: Back then we did a lot of events in Cologne and Berlin to build a community. We didn’t have a big product range, just a few items, but we wanted to build a big community around those selected pieces. I think that’s still important today — building a community around your key products.

Leon: The first Cologne pop-up was a huge turning point. There were hundreds of people waiting in line. My parents came and saw it and said, “OK, fuck it, just do this for the rest of your life.” When everything is online and blowing up on Instagram, you don’t really see it. But when people wait five hours in line in your hometown, then you understand the community is real.

Germany’s fashion conversation usually revolves around Berlin. What did building from Cologne give you?

Luis: To be honest, there was no real scene in Cologne. That’s why the pop-up was so big — there were no events — we tried to build our own scene through the community. Berlin now is investing more in Fashion Week, and you can see the difference compared to a few years ago. But Cologne didn’t have that.

If you look back at your early pieces and compare them to what you’re making now, what changed?

Moritz: If you look at our designs from 2017 to 2020, you can really see how young we were. We were like 19, 20, 21 — very experimental. Crazy dresses, double or triple-layer coats. As we got older, our interests shifted. You can see it in the clothes. We grew up.

Luis: We made crazy stuff before — pants with 64 pockets, wild pieces. Now I look back and think, what the fuck? It was fire at that time, but I wouldn’t wear it anymore. We made a big change. We want timeless clothes, not products screaming on social media. Pieces you can wear for ten years and build your own NO/FAITH wardrobe.

Moritz: For us now, authenticity is everything. If it’s denim, the treatment has to look like real vintage. The leather has to feel right. There are hundreds of brands doing denim, but doing the right things the right way — that’s what matters.

Fit feels like its own language for you. When you’re designing now, how much of it is instinct versus calculation?

Moritz: It’s crazy because now when Luis and I design something, we can guess the measurements and nine out of ten times we say the same numbers. It’s repetition and intuition. We stand in front of the mirror and say, “Maybe the sleeve needs to be 2cm wider.” It’s very instinctive now.

As you’ve matured, and your customer has matured with you, how has that shift shown up in what you choose to make?

Luis: The people who bought NO/FAITH three years ago got older, and they want more timeless stuff. I’m not wearing the craziest pieces anymore either. I think people want to dress more timeless now, not so loud for social media.

Leon: The shift was very drastic about a year and a half ago. We cut the crazy 64-pocket stuff. At first people said, “Bring back the old crazy pieces.” But now our best-selling product is just a perfect pair of raw denim.

You tried a wholesale model, then pulled back. What did that experience teach you about maintaining control and how you actually want to grow?

Leon: At first we had stockists like Nubian in Tokyo. But wholesale comes with markups, and we didn’t want to raise our website prices just to match retail margins. Also, we’re a small team. Managing wholesale properly takes a lot of work. With DTC, we can control where our products go and who buys them. We even recognize repeat customers on Shopify. Wholesale is important, but for us right now, DTC is stronger.

Luis: Retail can be dangerous if you grow too fast without the structure. You get 50 stores, one bad season, and they drop you. Then you have a big team and big costs. We want to grow step by step.

There’s a clear range in your offering, from high-end leather to more accessible denim. How intentional is that balance?

Luis: Very important. We have expensive leather pieces that aren’t always available, and then we have denim that people can buy more easily. Someone might not afford a €1,200 jacket, but they can buy a pair of jeans for €200–300 and enter the world of NO/FAITH.

Leon: It’s like entry-level luxury. Higher-end pieces and more accessible staples. That mix is important.

Your biggest drop also came with your biggest crisis. What actually happened behind the scenes?

Leon: The day before Black Friday I got a call — not from our fulfillment center, but from another brand there — saying the fulfillment center had filed for bankruptcy. We had our biggest drop of the year and suddenly no functioning warehouse. Luis was there every day packing orders himself.

Luis: I went in with cash, gave workers money to stay longer and pack only our orders. We shipped around 8,000 orders in two weeks ourselves. It was chaotic, but it worked. We shipped most orders earlier than promised. It was humbling. But not again.

When you stepped into the PUMA collaboration, did it feel like validation or pressure? And how does this second chapter feel different?

Luis: We were nervous at first. You never know if social media hype means people will actually buy. But it sold out in like two minutes worldwide.

Leon: Even PUMA said they hadn’t seen sell-through like that in years. Now we’re doing round two with a different silhouette. It’s more unexpected, more in our roots — a bit crazier again.

Working with a global brand like PUMA changes the scale of everything. How has that shifted the way you approach production and campaigns?

Leon: The first time we had an external budget and a big production. We learned a lot. Now in round two, we can apply those lessons and do even better.

Moritz: Working with a big company structure is new for us. Before, we did everything ourselves. Now we work with directors, producers, bigger teams. It’s a learning process.

If the next chapter isn’t about chasing scale for its own sake, what actually matters most to you right now?

Luis: Community. Last year we didn’t do enough events. This year we want to bring people together again — not just pop-ups, but art installations and experiences.

Moritz: Everything is online now. Many brands never see their customers in real life. Physical experiences are important. Touching clothes, feeling quality — that matters.

Do you see yourselves ever stepping into the traditional fashion system, like runway shows or permanent retail? Or is the goal to stay flexible?

Luis: I don’t want to be part of the traditional fashion week system. I want to be free and do things when it feels right.

Leon: We talk about stores, but we don’t want to rush. Maybe one day a small store in Tokyo — we have many customers there.

When someone thinks about NO/FAITH ten years from now, what do you hope they feel?

Luis: I don’t have a plan B. I want to do this for the rest of my life. I love making clothes and building my own wardrobe. I never plan five years ahead. One thing I really want is a physical space where people can see the clothes in real life, not just online.

Moritz: The person should wear the clothes — the clothes shouldn’t wear the person. When someone buys a pair of NO/FAITH jeans, it should look like they’ve had them for 50 years.

Luis: We don’t make products because we feel we have to. We stick to our language.