According to Raif Adelberg, the Sex Pistols were the first boy band. He's not joking. His steel-grey eyes are clear and unwavering, no trace of irony clouding his world-view.

The taut and tattooed visionary behind red-hot Richard Kidd (65 Water Street) sits at the back of the mezzanine level in the Gastown store he runs with his partner, Caterina Scrivano. He's a long-time fan of Vivienne Westwood, who, in the 1970s, ran London's infamous Sex shop on the King's Road along with Malcolm McLaren, the mercurial mastermind and shape shifter behind the rise and fall of Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones, and Paul Cook. And Adelberg's probably right; the Pistols were arguably the first manufactured and packaged all-male pop group groomed by someone else””in this case McLaren””to be about style as much as music. The formula worked. Around the planet young people trashed their disco duds and cut up their T-shirts. Safety-pin sales skyrocketed as rebellion became the new conformity.

Adelberg himself is a committed nonconformist. He certainly looks the part””and he dreamed up the name Richard Kidd so that a customer can purchase the label but never his very identity””but looks can be deceiving.

“I'm not a drinker and I don't do drugs. I used to shave my head, and people always thought I looked angry, but I was probably just thinking,” he says, dressed from head-to-toe in his trademark black. He declined to be photographed wearing his own designs. Skeptical about self-promotion, he prefers that his work take centre stage while he fades into the background.

“I think that when someone isn't happy with what they're wearing, they should do something to it to make it their own. Why not cut off a sleeve, or both sleeves, or the collar?” says the rule-breaking Adelberg, who also designs furniture, dishes, and books. “The bottom line is that I'm trying to give someone a bit of my lifestyle. If you like it or don't like it, that's fine. I'm not out to please everybody.”

Right now the background he's fading into is pretty spectacular. Behind him, through a floor-to-ceiling picture window, unfolds a panoramic view of Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains. Adelberg, who learned the apparel industry growing up in Winnipeg, where his father worked for the rag trade, loves Vancouver's marine palette”” especially our variegated greys. He's also fond of the region's indigenous designs; Richard Kidd's stunning interior features local First Nations art.

Think punk. Think Pacific. Put the two together and you've got Richard Kidd's spring and summer menswear collection. Although this would seem to be an unlikely union, the result is less deconstruction than reconstruction. And every detailed, labour-intensive item is made right here.

Soft, baby-cotton, short-sleeved T-shirts ($188) in white or seashore greys depict an intricately drawn aorta soaring through the air on bat wings, an illustrated octopus-and-bird motif, or simply the word Killer. Then there are the sensual, form-fitting, long-sleeved Ts ($248). An abstract bamboo motif in juxtaposed shades of marine and dark green graces one; on another, a light-grey floral pattern extends its tendrils across a black background. Or, on two other long-sleeved Ts, meticulous grey-on-grey or black-on-black embroidery subtly brings a different floral design to life.

A lightweight, white-cotton cardigan ($648) with Richard Kidd's signature sterling-silver buttons is perfect for a West Coast summer evening. A grey-on-grey striped button-down shirt ($558) comes with its own necktie constructed from the same fabric. A tailored, black-cotton shirt with a slight sheen is great for an elegant night out. Those with a penchant for drama will appreciate a white shirt ($718) with grey “brush strokes” and a ripped collar. These shirts can be matched with slender grey pants ($498) that sport frayed seams where the back crease would normally be.

Richard Kidd also carries shirts, pants, jackets, shoes, and accessories by a number of international labels. These include Euro-chic items by the Paris-based Belgian wunderkind Kris Van Assche and brilliant counterculture couture by Sydney, Australia's Tsubi. Particularly exuberant are the wild and wonderful creations of Tokyo's Undercover, aka multimedia artist Jun Takahashi, whose inclusion is especially appropriate. Takahashi once fronted the band Tokyo Sex Pistols.