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The Best Designers in America: 2009

Meet the guys who are redefining men’s style with their leather jackets, silk-screened T-shirts, and cashmere cardigans.

Reaching from the shores of Maine to the streets of Atlanta, assembling a class of designers whose vision is as broad and diverse as the country itself.

Benjamin Bixby

Founded: 2008, New York and Atlanta

Designer: André Benjamin (a.k.a. André 3000), 33

The philosophy: “During OutKast’s Stankonia period, I looked like I was from Mars. The music was otherworldly, and my character reflected that. I wanted to put that spirit into classic clothes, but ones that people could actually wear.”

The look: “I think the cut of Benjamin Bixby comes from comic-book characters, which I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. In comic books, the waist is always pinched, but the legs are full-cut, kind of like the Cracker Jack man.”

The influence: “In high school, in Atlanta, when Grand Puba told us to wear Girbaud jeans, I wore Girbaud jeans. Then you had this prep movement happening: Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer, Bass, Sebago, and Timberland. So imagine me walking through [local housing project] Bowen Homes in the morning to catch the bus, but I’m dressed like a prep. As you get older, you go back to those things.”