In deciding to come to Paris after regularly showing in New York City, John Elliott dwelled long and hard about a way for his Spring collection to stand out—to do something unexpected but understandable. (This is key in a day of waning interest in standard runway show staging.)
He came up with what sounds like a unique rollout; on Instagram, a highly followed person or group will post one look, tag another account, the user of which will then post another, and so on. In cool California-speak, the Los Angeleno Elliott said: “We create a swell and follow it through the tunnel.”
The clothes were just as thoughtful. Elliott said that he wants to make pieces that “guys will wear every single day.” He then cited his specific inspiration: the sun-faded landscape of the exurban Tucson desert in Arizona.
It worked. There were washed-cotton poplins in hazy grays, one primary example being a fishtail parka; pressure-dyed nylon anoraks and basketball shorts, recalling sedimentary gradients (which can sometimes look “totally strange,” said Elliott); wearable pool ripple–mimicking dyed crewnecks; and an A+ leather jacket, its hide peeling like scorched paint.
And despite the blanched bake of his source-point, one also couldn’t help but think of a surfing verve, too—down dunes or across cuts, given the casual confidence of these garments. Likewise with his Insta-experiment (and subsequent description of it). We think it’s a clever meta-abstraction of the (majorly on trend) surf theme. Catch the wave.
