With his Spring collection today, John Elliott continued to make a splash in men’s streetwear. Thankfully, the splash was not the result of an unintended dunk in the reflecting pool that ran the length of the runway, a re-creation of an ornate fountain he discovered in Marrakech. The collection, too, reflected a watery theme, with translucent tees, shimmery (reversible) silk bombers, waterproof linen, mesh lining, terry towels draped over the shoulder, and a custom piqué-like weave mirroring the filigree pattern of the fountain, also found in hammams.
Based in Los Angeles, along with his factory (where he himself is known to put in long hours—apparently for the joy of it), Elliott has a way of elevating casual basics into fanatically craved items. A lifetime of slavishly researching products and fabrics, rather than matriculating through fashion school, will have that effect. Several of the Nike sneakers, for instance, he happened upon in Hong Kong; he called them “aqua socks” during a backstage walk-through and knew they had been manufactured in 1991.
While a layering of grayscale textures, topped with a hoodie, has become his signature look, for Spring he wanted to explore a peppier palette, hence the bursts of frothy blue, algae green, and steamy silver. Elliott also wanted to experiment with new cutting techniques, trying out needle-punch for the first time, which lent more visual interest to those liquid pieces, like islands in a stream.
It’s been fascinating to watch the evolution of John Elliott from charmingly geeky former shop kid to worldly designer with a vision all his own. Last Fall was informed by a trip to Japan for kimono research, and the season before that by a marathon he ran through Vietnam. As he’d say, the first step on the road to being a designer is exploration, exploration, and more exploration.
