The death of the tie may be a little exaggerated, but stylistically, neckwear is definitely in a rut. Outside of the skinny/wide dichotomy and the increasing influence of the Britons, there isn’t a lot of new stuff happening. If the tie aisle is ever going to show us something we can’t find in a vintage store, someone is going to have to step up.

And we’ve got a few ideas about who.

For instance, Sovereign Beck. We first ran into them taking a tour through In God We Trust, but they’ve found their way into boutiques nationwide and they’ve got designs unlike anything you’ve ever seen on a tie. The designers come from art circles instead of fashion—RISD to be specific, just like occasional MOTH David Byrne—which explains a lot of the iconoclasm. The graph-inspired designs give the ties a mathy feeling, but it’s not something that has any reference points in contemporary men’s fashion. Shockingly enough, it’s almost totally original.

If you feel like picking one up, we’ve put a couple stores in the column to the right. And, of course, there’s always RISDworks.

—R.B.