Do you <i>habla</I> Haider? Can you chat about Chalayan? Discover the brands the style elite will be wearing this spring.

There comes a certain time in one’s sartorial evolution where the obvious is just not good enough. Style, after all, is a matter of personal choice, and isn’t it nice when you’re the guy who arrives at the party with a new designer on his arm, or legs. If you were the first among your sartorially competitive peers to wear Dior Homme back when Mr Hedi Slimane was hitting his stride there in 2001, then let’s look at some brands that you might not yet have contemplated, but should definitely know about.

Though they cover a wide range of styles and categories, from classic leather accessories to performance-driven outerwear, what these designers have in common are their loyal followers who appreciate the focus on details, such as manufacture, design innovation or startling originality. Scroll down to find out why.

Some designers create according to the needs of the everyday wardrobe, or the prevailing mood of the season. Mr Haider Ackermann marches to the beat of his own drum. And that’s no bad thing, because, like Mr Rick Owens and Ms Ann Demeulemeester before him, Mr Ackermann is that rarest of designer breeds, a true singularity. His designs, which lavishly mix the sporty with the formal, the traditional with the exotic, represent a distinct world with its own sartorial rules. A note to tourists: it’s heavy on the silk and velvet. In fact, it’s abundantly generous in many areas, from the outsized proportions that give many of his pieces a piratical swagger, to the exotic floral prints and meticulous embroidery that embellish his shirts, outerwear and tailored jacquard pieces. The most spectacular item of his spring 2015 collection is, undoubtedly, the linen and silk-blend bomber jacket, a slouchy number that, with its sports-influence, shimmering fabric and contrasting chevron and floral patterns brings together many of the aspects that make Mr Ackermann’s superlative designs particularly coveted by the style elite.

Mr Hussein Chalayan has always been a particular favourite of the critics, much applauded for his experimental procedures. In the past, these have included burying clothing in the ground (for his graduate collection in 1993), creating a suite of wearable furniture (autumn/ winter 2000) and mixing clothing with animatronics (spring 2007). His menswear line, which he has reinstated this year after (a presumably ponderous) eight years is light on such fireworks but no less a proof of intelligent design, subtly deconstructing familiar items in a way that will make you look twice. And like it. Spring’s collection is full of such tricks, from double-layered shirts and jackets to a full seat of sweats in tactile terry fabric. Most intriguing though is his take on the zip-up bowling shirt, a 1950s-style reinvented for a more distant horizon. The shirt is in a stiff cotton blend with metallic threads woven into the fabric.

This family-owned New England accessories brand is 100% US-made, and its bags tap into that most insider-y of concerns, product integrity. Simple, timeless and without any extraneous details, its range of bags and briefcases is made to the highest standards using rich, vegetable-tanned leather and comes with a lifetime guarantee (they can also be repaired for a small fee). For its rich colour, no-frills design and practicality, the lock-and-key document case in smooth bridle leather is a standout piece.

The insider anathema: looking as if you’ve tried too hard. It’s a concept that couldn’t be more foreign to Mr Massimo Alba, whose softly rumpled tailoring and richly dyed pieces offer a masterclass in that nonchalant sprezzatura (read: artfully ruffled) look that is the birthright of the Milanese. One of the more quietly influential figures in Milanese fashion, Mr Alba has been designing since the mid-1980s, with a CV featuring behind-the-scenes stints at Piombo, Malo and Ballantyne. Which of course explains why his pieces, which look simple and easy, are conceived and manufactured with a seasoned approach that’s anything but. Of particular note is Mr Alba’s penchant (and knack) for garment dyeing – a process in which an entire piece of clothing is immersed in dye, creating a rich, organic and pleasingly uneven effect. The benefits of such attention are amply demonstrated by this Nehru-collared linen blazer from his spring offering.

One of the many mutterings among influencers in the menswear world is that performance wear (ie, the sort of clothing made to be used rather than just worn) is the future. If that’s the case, the future might actually be here, courtesy of Arc’teryx Veilance, the sartorial offshoot of Canadian outdoor and equipment specialists Arc’teryx. Combining hi-tech fabrics (including a range of the latest multi-tasking varieties from Gore-Tex) with state-of-the art manufacturing and intuitive design twists (such as panelling on trousers for ease of movement, or taped seams for extra water resistance), it’s one of few brands in the world that successfully merges a high-end aesthetic with high-end performance. This spring’s nylon, stud-fastened blazer is a case in point – wear it as a sporty city blazer or as a rain jacket when the skies turn grey. You won’t regret it either way.

Though its founder stepped back from designing the collections himself in the late 1990s, the Issey Miyake brand (and group) has continued to develop his vision of design innovation via artisanal and hi-tech manufacturing techniques, bringing on board protégés such as Mr Dai Fujiwara (who now runs sub-brand A-POC) and current Issey Miyake Men creative director Mr Yusuke Takahashi. Every Issey Miyake piece is the fruit of thorough research, sometimes resulting in outré results (the pieces on the runway this spring incorporated unusual fibres such as pineapple and Japanese hemp), but the collections also focus on comfort and utility at the core. This simple grey, shawl-collared blazer, a perfect extra layer for spring, has a subtle marl finish that unites the best of both worlds and is typical of the obsessive attention the brand pays to its fabrics.

Those in the know are already aware that this brand’s name stands for “No Nationality” – ie, a certain globetrotting, adventurous mindset – and 2007, the year that founders Messrs Victor Lindh and Ulrik Pedersen set it up. They’re also keyed up on the fact that the Copenhagen-based label provides a covetable range of wearable everyday items you never knew you needed, reinventing such tried and tested archetypes as the chambray shirt, the slim denim jean and the merino wool sweater. Aside from an attractive price point, which certainly helps things, the central appeal of NN.07 is its ability to mix the smart and the casual – an ability demonstrated by this season’s most covetable item, the boiled wool blazer. Wear it on a Friday, when you want to hang a little looser, but still keep an air of respectability.