Berlin-based brand DAGGER takes its name from the ceremonial blade used in pagan rituals - a symbol of endings, beginnings, and transformation. The brand was founded in 2020 by Luke Rainey, after an unexpected job loss left him with nothing but €300 in government benefits and a dream. The final line of his dismissal letter - “We wish you all the best with your professional future and personal wellbeing” - struck a nerve. Ironic and impersonal, it became a source of unexpected inspiration. Luke took the words at face value, stamped them on the back of what would become DAGGER’s first and now-iconic “Core” T-shirt, and turned “All the Best” into the brand’s enduring slogan. The DAGGER aesthetic was forged in Luke’s rebellious teenage years growing up in a small Northern Irish town in the early 2000s - a place where money was tight, but skate was currency. That era’s rough-edged, DIY spirit runs through every stitch: clothes that wear like scraped knees, cracked pavement, and midnight missions.
DAGGER isn’t just another brand - it’s a tribute to the hard-earned beauty of a life well lived, worn in, and worn proud.
It stands for beginnings, endings, and all the stories in between.
