ONLY ONE Wants to Put New York Back at the Center of Streetwear
Drawing from hip-hop’s golden era and the people who helped shape it, ONLY ONE wants to make New York streetwear feel like New York again.
For more than three decades, WOODstack has helped shape how New Yorkers shop streetwear. Now, the retailer is making the leap from selling culture to creating it.
The New York institution has officially unveiled ONLY ONE, its first in-house lifestyle label, marking a move that echoes a familiar trajectory for some of streetwear’s most influential retailers. Rather than simply stocking the brands defining the conversation, WOODstack is now looking to build one of its own.
Launching July 16, ONLY ONE’s Summer 2026 collection positions New York itself as both its subject and its point of view. Led creatively by Ian Anton, formerly of Richardson Magazine, alongside former Timberland Brand Partnerships executive Andy Friedman and WOODstack owner Sunny Singh, the brand draws heavily from the visual language that defined late-’90s and early-2000s street culture.
“Only One is rooted in the foundational era of urban streetwear from the ’90s and into the 2000s,” Anton says. “The people behind the brand all lived and helped shape that culture in different ways.”
That collective experience is what separates ONLY ONE from another wave of Y2K-inspired brands. Friedman spent three decades at Timberland, helping oversee collaborations with everyone from Supreme and Stüssy to Pharrell, Virgil Abloh and KITH. Singh, meanwhile, has spent more than 30 years building WOODstack into one of New York’s longest-standing footwear destinations, with seven stores across the city and a new Harlem flagship slated to open later this year.
Friedman shares that his ambition isn’t simply to create another apparel line, but to build something that carries the same emotional weight iconic New York brands once did.
“I always was interested in how artists felt while wearing a Timberland 6” Boot,” Friedman explains. “I was fortunate to hear firsthand how someone like DMX felt while wearing Timbs. Descriptors like ‘Invincible,’ ‘One with myself,’ and ‘Couldn’t perform in anything else’ became part of the driving force for creating something that has meaning, stands for something and can stand the test of time.”
Rather than mining nostalgia for its own sake, ONLY ONE treats New York’s cultural history as living source material. The collection’s Chrome Football Jersey nods to the chrome typography of Ruff Ryders Vol. 1, while the Jesus Piece T-shirt features the original pendant design made famous by The Notorious B.I.G. Elsewhere, the Beware of Dogs Long Sleeve references DMX, creating a throughline between some of hip-hop’s most recognizable visual codes and contemporary streetwear.
“Those references aren’t nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake,” Anton says. “They represent defining moments in street culture that continue to influence fashion today. Only One exists to celebrate that foundation while presenting it through a modern lens.”
That same philosophy extends to the accompanying campaign. Shot by artist Gogy Esparza, the editorial channels the cinematic style of Hype Williams and Director X while casting a new generation connected to the culture that inspired it. Jae’Won, the son of Jadakiss, and CJ Wallace, the son of The Notorious B.I.G., are joined by model Faith Jaggernauth, rapper Ize and Public Housing Skate Team’s Vlad Gomez.
“Gogy and I pulled inspiration from our favorite music videos from that era,” Anton explains. “Jae’Won and CJ Wallace were the natural faces of the campaign because they represent a direct lineage to that foundational era while carrying it forward into today.”
It’s a fitting introduction for a brand whose greatest strength may not be its references, but its proximity to the culture they’re referencing. Unlike labels attempting to recreate New York from afar, ONLY ONE is being built by people who helped shape the city’s streetwear ecosystem in real time — from Timberland’s formative years in hip-hop to WOODstack’s decades serving neighborhoods across Brooklyn and beyond.
ONLY ONE’s Summer 2026 collection will be made available starting Thursday, July 16 at OnlyOneUSA.com and at all WOODstack locations.
