The name "Public School" might remind you of stale lunches and math class, but it's actually a men's fashion line started by two former Sean John designers. Featuring a mix of hoodies, jeans and jackets with elaborate details, designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne say they want to fuse European tailoring with Japanese street wear, creating "perfection through imperfection."

So if your bag is clothes that look like you've been in a "minor scuffle," this might be the fashion line for you. Of course, you could always rip your existing clothes. But you probably wouldn't rip them nearly so artfully.

Public School

    Public School's logo is a black apple with a feather quill: "Both a nod to the Big Apple's edgier side and an underlying quest for knowledge."

    How do you translate that into your clothes?

    "Garments are purposely de-constructed. Garments with a torn rib at the waistband, conceptually as if one were in a minor tussle; seams that raise from the garment and reconnect." ('Fireside' leather jacket, $650.)

    ('Duchess' jacket, $393.) What makes your clothes distinctive?

    "Paying attention to detail. We enjoy ensuring that the end customer has points of discovery. Each garment also has a distinctive attitude to it." (DC.)

    What influences your designs, from the world of fashion and beyond?

    "New York City, people, friends and family, music. We hope to add more pop culture than we take from it. Our first designs were all things New York. We listened to Notorious B.I.G.'s 2nd album, Life After Death. and were inspired by the 1970s cult flick, The Warriors." ('Baldwin' leather jacket, $670.)

    Who is your target audience?

    "Anyone who enjoys fashion and well thought out garments. People who know how to wear clothes and not let the clothes wear them." (DC.) ('Chieftain' jacket, $343.)

    Are you independent or associated with a larger company?

    "Independent. Large in heart. Very, very small in staff." (MO) ('Chieftain' jacket, $343.)

    Do you think your designs are accessible to a mainstream audience -- is that important to you?

    "(We are) probably not the most accessible brand, but we don't mean to be everything to everybody. Hopefully enough people can enjoy it." (DC)

    When was the label founded?

    "January 2007." ('Fuji' cardigan, $198.)

    What brands and designers, other than yourself, are you inspired by in the world of men's fashion?

    "All independent designers who struggle to make it through the rigors of minimums and self financing." (DC) ('Fuji' cardigan, $198.)

    Who is the perfect celebrity to wear your clothes?

    "Johnny Depp." (MO) ('Fuji' cardigan, $198.)