Americana

I never really cared about what’s going on at Coach, but the resort 2025 lookbook has sparked my interest. Finally, a brand in New York that fills the blank space that Raf Simons left after creating the ambitious – and sadly aborted – Calvin Klein 205W39NYC project. Stuart Vevers similarly plays with the codes of Americana in a loveworn, weathered, and lived in way, with bits of cinematic, even horror-y drama. Vevers’s rather winter-ish resort collection is stuffed nostalgia-tinged fuzzy-soft cozy cable knits and full tweedy skirts with huge taffeta bows, rocking a Victoriana-goes-1950s vibe. Note how the oversized Argyle check knit polo shirts are designed to layer up at will, one of the many pieces in Vevers’ line-up denuded of gender specificity. Likewise the jewelry: diamanté bows and chandelier earrings to pin here, there, and everywhere, and single earrings with a delightfully kitschy quality to them – pumpkins, candy canes, essentially the John Waters-approved inventory of holiday tree decorations. For layering up with those sweaters Vevers suggests a ratty tee emblazoned with Popeye; it was inspired by a black and white image of Debbie Harry back in the day wearing a t-shirt with the pipe smoking, spinach loving cartoon character. Popeye isn’t the only pop cultural icon in play here as the designer was also looking at images of Twin Peaks stars Madchen Amick and Lara Flynn Boyle between takes, in their homespun, 1950s-esque looks warped by David Lynch.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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There is no other brand like ERL. By that I mean no one dissects the codes of Americana like Eli Russell Linnetz. And nobody in fashion does theatrics like the Venice Beach-based designer. The authentic, evocative story-telling, which is a combination of ERL’s convincingly vintage-y clothes and the brand’s unique cast of models, just can’t be faked. The designer’s story for autumn-winter 2023 season follows a family that strikes it rich after traveling the Oregon trail, then falls into dysfunction and deterioration across the generations. The zine, which Linnetz titled “Greed: The American Gold Rush“, opens with “pioneer chic” dresses in drab checks and a red bandana print and ends with a Wall Street descendent living through the housing crisis of the 2020s in a football jersey with a homemade bomb strapped to his chest, planning his own demise. It’s a dystopian view of the American dream, reinforced by the use of imagery from the film Easy Rider – tagline: “A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere.” But the collection isn’t as dark as the tale Linnetz tells with his photos. Though there are T-shirts printed with the words “Rent Me,” he wears his generation’s pessimism lightly. He’s too fascinated with the major and minor arcana of American life – from the stars and stripes of the flag on down to swap meet sourced vintage prints and the 1970s phenomenon that was iron-on T-shirts – to be truly negative in his outlook. A click through the images will tell you that this is actually Linnetz’s most upbeat collection yet, and not just because he devoted a chapter to the psychedelia of the 1970s, with flower children printed parkas and snowpants, and airbrushed T-shirts in cotton that feels likes it’s been loved and lived-in for years. He had fun with his Wall Street-wear too, collaging classic menswear plaids with surfboard illustrations by the legendary surfer Gerry Lopez on jackets and coats. The back of the coat is DIY’d with one of the 50-odd iron-ons in the lineup. Linnetz pointed to his experience collaborating with Kim Jones at Dior Men for his push into tailoring, and said there will be more of it in upcoming seasons.