Eli Russell Linnetz Launches a “Made in California” Collection of Souped-up American Classics

“I forgot to talk about the sheep living at the studio,” Eli Russell Linnetz texts me a minute after our FaceTime ends. The Californian designer shares a picture of his fluffy friends as they mill about outside the wave-like space (once belonging to Dennis Hopper) that he uses as ERL’s home base. At least six of them appear in the photo, wandering in an enclosed area, with the architectural marvel looming in the background.

The sheep aren’t just cute friends for the designer’s dog Einstein. Linnetz is taking some of his production fully in-house, launching a “Made in California” collection that is, obviously, made in California, in and around Linnetz’s studio. The sheep in his yard are sheared to make wool, and shearling waste is gathered from local farmers to produce shearling pieces including an ultra-luxe pair of chaps. There are also hoodies, jeans, tees, and button-downs, each item uniquely made in the ERL atelier.

“I wanted people to have a deeper connection directly to what I wanted to say, from my own hands,” he says. “Everything is made with local farmers and artisans I’ve been working with, so it really is a farm-to-table version of clothing. I really just wanted to make sure that when you’re buying something, you’re really buying a piece of myself or buying a piece of my world. There’s nothing in between.”

The Made in California collection will sit in harmony with his ERL main line, which is produced with Dover Street Market in Comme des Garçons factories around the world, and will launch exclusively on a new ERL e-shop. The pieces are more luxurious (and obviously more expensive) versions of the items ERL is known for, there are cheeky plaid boxers, sun-bleached tees, perfect worn-in flannels, and dyed sweatpants that Russell models during our call. “I usually never wear my clothes,” he says with a laugh, “but I think this new stuff that I’m making, it’s actually what I feel is the epitome of California style. I feel it’s what I’ve always been chasing.”

“It literally took two years to get the exact washes to capture something that felt lived-in, sun-faded, and worn, with just that perfect balance of color,” he continues, noting he tried coming up with new ways of dyeing to get the right look. “Literally, the T-shirts involve 40 steps. It looks like a basic red, but it took 40 steps to make it. Even in the simplicity, it feels insanely different, the fabrics.” And wait ’til you hear about the socks.

“The socks are my favorite thing,” he says. “They’re the most expensive thing almost on this site, but they’re so comfy.”

“How did you make expensive socks?”

“It’s this yarn from Japan, and when you hold them, you’re like, ‘OK, this makes sense,’” he smiles.

In a fashion world already high on its own supply of luxurious everyday wear, super riche basics might not seem novel, but what Linnetz has created with his hands in his studio is unique. It’s not basic by design standards—even if it looks like a pair of jeans or a “simple” tee it’s been perfected by a team of real artisans. Nor is it basic in its intention. Think about it like this: Linnetz is part of a generation the New York Times calls “peak millennials,” who dominate not only the culture, but the market at the moment. (Full disclosure: I am also a “peak millennial.”) For those of us raised on hunky smiling Abercrombie boys and free-spirited prairie dresses from Delia’s, ERL’s clothes are a beautiful and more lasting version of the staples we grew up loving. It’s a generation’s teenage dreams made real, the clothes I wish I had in 2004, made for me to wear and thrash until they are threadbare in 2024.

Making the ordinary extraordinary is an idea resonating in the highest echelons of fashion. Just ask Matthieu Blazy, who is making trompe l’oeil jeans and flannels out of buttery leather at Bottega Veneta, or Miuccia Prada, whose Miu Miu collections—profits of which are up 89%—are making fashion history by making normie items like polo shirts and board shorts feel as prized as a bejeweled bag. Casual luxury isn’t about coordinating yoga sets or overpriced viscose palazzo pants anymore, it’s about normal (or dare I say normcore) basics that have a better make and a decidedly arty flair.

“Maybe it’s deceivingly simple, some of this collection,” Linnetz says, “but I really wanted to create the California staples that I grew up loving that I feel like people could buy at any time—that you just can’t really find in a nice, lasting quality. There are things that might seem obvious, but that I can’t ever find.”

He already has champions. This launch follows a 2022 collaboration with Kim Jones at Dior Men, branded California Couture. Billie Eilish has bought and worn some of the new pieces, including the eyewear and sneakers. “When you see someone like that embodying it, you’re like, maybe I do know what I’m doing or something,” Linnetz says laughing. “It’s exciting just to know you’re on the same wavelength as someone in that way. I love her authenticity and I feel like that’s everything I stand for. We’re super in the same spirit of just throwing on something from a thrift store with cool shoes, and so I love seeing how she puts it all together.”

Today, that authenticity is available via Linnetz’s new e-commerce experience, which he promises will continue to grow and evolve as his own direct-to-consumer platform. “On the website, we will have our fragrances, and I already have furniture that I’ve been working on that I’m going to put up there,” he explains. “Maybe I’ll just sell some things that I find in my house. It should feel like a weird museum where you never know what you’re going to discover. It’s not this clinical approach to e-commerce. It’s going to be exciting to feel like you never know when you go on the website what will be available.”

The debut launch, pictured here, is modeled by a group of real surfer guys Linnetz cast from California and Hawaii. (Also pictured, his own sheep.) Online, the updated ERL site is a treasure trove of brand vibes and secrets, a digital universe unto itself. But he must want to expand into an in-person experience, so people can feel both the spirited authenticity of his vision and exactly why those socks are so expensive? “We’re just not allowed to say anything yet!” he acknowledges of a big-time future project. You’ll just have to wait and see where ERL pops up next.

Shop Eli Russell Linnetz’s Made in California collection on ERL’s updated e-commerce site.