ERL Spring Summer 2027 frames menswear as a clash between two coasts. Titled The Island, the collection comes from a personal story: Eli Russell Linnetz traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to surprise his cousins, only to discover that they had moved and sold the family home. He stayed with the new family living there, inside a house once tied to his own family history and now transformed into a polished summer retreat.
SPRING SUMMER 2027
That strange encounter gives the collection its narrative charge. Linnetz builds the season around dislocation, social performance and the feeling of entering a world where the codes are familiar but no longer yours. In menswear terms, this becomes a meeting between East Coast prep and Venice Beach attitude. One side brings tartans, madras, rugby stripes and clubby summer dressing. The other brings skate, surf, faded hoodies, acid washed denim and pop color.
The preppy side of the collection carries real force. Plaid blazers appear with matching wide leg trousers, creating head to toe looks that exaggerate traditional summer tailoring. Oxford and poplin button downs sit beside plaid cargos and boxer shorts cut from the same cloth, giving classic shirting and casual pieces the same visual treatment. The result turns prep into a complete environment rather than a set of polite references.
Pastels shape the softer side of the season. Buttery yellow suiting, pale pink denim, powder blue, periwinkle and knit polos give the collection its East Coast summer palette. Striped rugby knits, argyle vests, cable vests and varsity quarter zips extend the theme, but Linnetz keeps everything slightly loosened. The clothes do not feel freshly pressed. They look washed, worn and exposed to sun.
Venice Beach interrupts that order. Muted blues and grays shift into chartreuse and lime, with green denim jackets, matching jeans, lime fleece quarter zips, sweatpants and ribbed tanks. The skate and surf influence pushes the collection away from inherited good taste and toward something more impulsive. Tropical floral polos with matching cargo pants bring a boardwalk mood, while the “YES / NO” snack rack print adds burgers, granola and pretzels to the menswear surface.
The strongest pieces sit where the two worlds collide. California Couture sweaters and “Venice” script hoodies and tees appear sun faded, as if pulled from a porch after a long summer. Burgundy and forest green track suits with wave insets bring athletic movement into the collection, while acid washed denim recalls an 1980s preppy American image that refuses to disappear.
Linnetz also pushes the artisanal side of the season. A men’s baby blue crocodile jacket stands out, joined by limited pieces including a yellow rose print suit, patched madras flannels with matching boxers, hand knit sweaters and a multicolor yarn pom jacket. These pieces give the collection a hand worked quality, connecting its storytelling to material detail.
Footwear expands the menswear language further. Tassel driving loafers arrive in cream, tan, yellow crocodile, pink and periwinkle, while the ERL Vamp returns in over dyed canvas. The washed and sun faded finish keeps the shoes within the collection’s lived in mood. Canvas “Venice” totes, plastic beach bags, bucket hats, heraldic crest caps, plaque buckle belts and logo socks complete the look.
Across The Island, ERL uses upcycled remnants, antique fabrics, deadstock plaids and recreated found textiles collected by Linnetz. Season 14 also marks ERL’s first independent showroom, with all showroom pieces created in California. For SS27, Linnetz turns menswear into a strange American summer memory, caught between family history, prep codes and Venice Beach escape.
