You might see the crest of a 30-foot blue nylon wave from a number of blocks away on Pacific Avenue in Venice Seashore, a part of the spectacular ocean-themed runway set design that was constructed for Dior Males’s present final night time. With Californian designer Eli Russell Linnetz of ERL signed on as the home’s newest visitor designer, it made sense that artistic director Kim Jones would select to indicate the capsule assortment in opposition to the backdrop of this well-known Los Angeles beachfront. “I grew up in Venice Seashore, I got here to this road on a regular basis,” stated Linnetz talking at a preview earlier than the present. “This was principally my yard.”
Linnetz’s story is straight out of Hollywood. A movie scholar turned designer, he lower his enamel in Kanye West’s creative studio, directing movies for the likes of Teyana Taylor. He counts Woman Gaga as a former co-conspirator too; he was her private photographer. Since launching his ERL model in 2018, his fanbase has swelled yr on yr and consists of the likes of A$AP Rocky and Hailey Bieber. He is additionally one in all a number of brilliant younger finalists up for this yr’s LVMH Prize.
“We’ve a number of individuals in frequent,” stated Jones, explaining that the pair had been launched by mutual pals and began the dialog over DM a few yr in the past. When Jones arrived at ERL HQ in Venice Seashore to work on the capsule, their artistic chemistry was virtually on the spot. “I used to be 99% excited on the thought, 1% scared that I’d lose myself, simply because Kim has such a powerful imaginative and prescient of the world and his collections are so refined and putting. My world is a lot extra chaotic,” stated Linnetz. “However the second Kim got here to the studio, it felt simple, seamless.”
The pair used Linnetz’s date of delivery, 1991, as a leaping off level for the gathering, mining the Dior archives for garments created that yr. “I believe individuals would assume that I’d be extra into the Galliano archive as a result of it is so theatrical, however truly by my analysis I turned extra excited by diving into one thing that hadn’t been touched earlier than,” stated Linnetz. They landed on the maximalist class of Gianfranco Ferré’s designs for the French Home, the form of opulent tailoring you might need seen sauntering down Rodeo Drive on the time. Cue the opening look, a gently padded silk satin swimsuit in Dior’s signature dove grey created with the liner twisted inside out and worn with wide-legged pants puddling over chunky skater sneakers. It was a candy marriage of Parisian government realness and SoCal cool, or what you would possibly name “California Couture,” a slogan that appeared on not less than just a few cozy turtleneck sweaters.