Eli Russell Linnetz has made a sharp swerve. After some time focusing on boy-next-door prep—khaki bermudas, old-school cotton boxers, popped-collar polo shirts—Linnetz is drifting into another key pocket of Americana: the freewheeling tradition of the motorcycle rider. Think Marlon Brando in The Wild One with a whiff of ’90s grunge and a splash of Tom of Finland. For those in need of more contemporary references: Imagine Austin Butler’s character in The Bikeriders hanging out in Venice Beach today. All this to say—it’s grubby, sexy, and pretty cool.
“I guess I was just feeling super angsty after doing so much preppy stuff,” offered Linnetz. He was just ahead of the curve when he embraced the world of prep—since then, it’s been flip flops, double polo shirts, cargo shorts, and plaid boxer shorts galore on the menswear scene, particularly on the streets and in TikTok’s “For You” pages. Could he be right on the money once more with this latest switch up?
His cool riffs on the classic Perfecto jacket are hot and messy; their slim, cropped silhouettes feel right for the current moment. He said he and his team sourced vintage jackets and took them apart to piece them back together. The tight, bicep-hugging fit of his baby tees, henleys, and button-downs, plus his boot-cut jeans—not quite skinny yet not as wide as pants have been for the better part of the 2020s—speak to the way men have started to dress, first online but now off-screen too.
The collection has an intentional topsy-turvy look and feel—“chaos” is how Linnetz described it. It’s also more erotic and grown-up than it’s looked in recent seasons, or perhaps ever. Linnetz has always leveraged the sex appeal of the all-American bro, but here he’s spiced it up with a sharper edge and a little bit of danger. Chalk that up to a collaboration with Peter Berlin, the elusive multi-hyphenate artist who made a name for himself within the gay community as both artist and muse in the ’70s and ’80s. Berlin is known for his signature bowl cut and provocative outfits—a photo of him features on a t-shirt here—as well as for his youthful omnipresence in the cruisy streets of San Francisco and in his gay male erotic films. He posed for Andy Warhol and Tom of Finland and Robert Mapplethorpe. Berlin, who is alive and working, has been on everyone’s moodboard.
Linnetz said that he connected with Berlin through a friend. The artist then offered him his photographic archive for a collaboration. Berlin was a clear aesthetic fit for the story about a mischievous motorcycle gang Linnetz crafted for this collection and lookbook. “He’s a true Californian artist, and this is the first time I ever really collaborated with another artist,” said Linnetz. This pre-fall lineup is also the first time that Linnetz has produced a collection entirely in California. He shifted his production before news of the tariffs broke, still, this launch feels particularly appropriate. Linnetz just has that kind of timing.
