ERL SS27

There is something quietly compelling about the way ERL turns nostalgia into something entirely its own. For SS27, designer Eli Russell Linnetz takes us to The Island, a world caught between the sun faded ease of Venice Beach and the polished preppiness of Martha’s Vineyard. Presented during Paris Men’s Fashion Week in June, the collection feels like a summer memory that is equal parts familiar, romantic and slightly out of place.

Madras checks, striped rugby shirts, faded denim and floral prints form the backbone of the collection, while pastel pinks, powder blues and buttery yellows lend the wardrobe a distinctly sun drenched sensibility. Traditional East Coast dressing is loosened by ERL’s Californian irreverence: silhouettes feel lived-in rather than pristine, and classic staples take on a more playful, sometimes unexpected character.

What makes this collection particularly interesting is its sense of displacement. The Island draws on Linnetz’s personal experience of returning to Martha’s Vineyard to find his family’s former home transformed and inhabited by strangers. That tension between belonging and estrangement gives the clothes a subtle emotional undercurrent. Preppy codes become more than an aesthetic reference; they suggest a world of inherited traditions, social rituals and identities that are never quite as fixed as they appear.

The presentation reinforced this intimate narrative, with models lounging on pink platforms in an atmosphere closer to a languid summer afternoon than a conventional runway. It was an invitation to inhabit ERL’s world rather than simply observe it.

SS27 also marks an important turning point for the label, with ERL stepping into a new chapter as an independent brand following its departure from Dover Street Market’s incubation program. The collection feels all the more assured for it, bringing together the label’s familiar West Coast energy with a more expansive exploration of American style and personal history. 

For me, the appeal of ERL lies in this ability to make the familiar feel just a little strange. In The Island, summer dressing is not simply about escapism; it is about memory, identity and the stories we attach to the clothes we wear. And in a season full of references to the past, that emotional dimension is what makes ERL stand out.