Kim Jones and Eli Russel Linnetz Will Join Forces for “California Couture” Collection
As confirmed by WWD, the new Dior collection will debut in Venice Beach on May 19.
Kim Jones and Eli Russel Linnetz Will Join Forces for “California Couture” Collection
As confirmed by WWD, the new Dior collection will debut in Venice Beach on May 19.
Kim Jones‘ Dior is a prolific collaborator, having previously worked with Jordan Brand, Birkenstock, Peter Doig, PSG, Kenny Scharf, and so many other notable figures in our cultural sphere. Now, it has been revealed that Eli Russell Linnetz of ERL has been invited to work alongside Jones for Dior’s upcoming collection, debuting on May 19 at 8 p.m. PST in Venice Beach.
In an exclusive interview with WWD, a smattering of details have been revealed about the upcoming collection. Notably, it focuses on bringing “California Couture,” per a sweater that’s adorned with the newly-coined phrase that’s set to debut during tomorrow’s show.
The partnership differs from Dior’s previous collections that have brought on the likes of Shawn Stussy or Daniel Arsham. While those were part of a main collection, Jones now aims to work on smaller collections for seasons such as Pre-Spring. Speaking to WWD, Jones said, “I’m doing two projects like this, this year, and that’s it, and I thought it was nice to work with younger designers I admire and give them the platform through Dior in a different way. Talking to all the people that I know that have gone through the pandemic and being independent, it’s been difficult, so I thought it was a nice way to support people and also, glean a bit of how they’re working… It gives us the capacity to do something in a different way than we’d work on it as Dior.”
This collection is also said to be heavily inspired by the Dior archive. Per the interview, Linnetz said, “Kim gave me the freedom to go in the archive and really explore things that maybe he hadn’t touched on before, and then I brought it back to him and he could really curate those designs.” Jones added, “We were looking at the archive in the year when I was born, so we were interested and started at Gianfranco Ferré in the ’90s.”
For now, this is all we know. Stay tuned to HYPEBEAST for more information following the Dior runway show, and check out the full interview now on WWD.
In case you missed it, take a look at Gucci’s “Cosmogonie” collection.
