Erl

ERL is the fashion label of Eli Russell Linnetz, a Los Angeles-born creative director, photographer, and filmmaker who launched the brand in November 2018 out of his Venice Beach studio, with early backing from Comme des Garçons. The line draws on West Coast skate and surf culture, filtered through the same high-concept visual storytelling Linnetz has applied to music videos and stage design for other artists. Before ERL, Linnetz worked primarily behind the camera and on set, directing videos for Kanye West and serving as creative director for Lady Gaga's Las Vegas residency, and that production background shows up in how the label presents itself: runway concepts staged more like short films than straightforward presentations. ERL's designs are built around genderless silhouettes meant to be worn interchangeably rather than marketed strictly as menswear or womenswear, a departure from the gendered collections still standard at most contemporary labels. The brand has drawn attention from figures well outside fashion circles: A$AP Rocky wore a custom quilted ERL look to the 2021 Met Gala, and Linnetz was later invited to co-design a Dior Men's capsule collection with Kim Jones, unveiled with a runway show staged in Venice Beach rather than Paris. For shoppers, ERL reads less like a conventional streetwear label and more like wearable output from a working film and photography studio.